batavia

A caller reported the smell of natural gas in the area of Dewey Avenue.

Another person reported the smell on South Main.

Batavia fIre's Ladder 12 and Engine 12 are in the area trying to detect the smell but negative results so far.

UPDATE 11:17 p.m. Smell located at South Main and River.

UPDATE 11:22 p.m.: Engine 12 back in service.

A deputy just received a walk-up complaint of a person with a shotgun walking around and yelling in the area of Overlook Drive.

The deputy, who was already with a trooper, is responding, and another deputy is responding, too.

UPDATE 10:52 p.m.: One deputy is clear of the scene and says the other deputy will update dispatchers.

UPDATE 10:53 p.m.: The first deputy has spoken with a complainant about the alleged man with a shotgun. It may not be a shotgun. It may be a play gun. Another deputy has located a kid who was on a bike with a Nerf gun.

UPDATE 11:01 p.m.: Law enforcement is clear the "gun complaint."

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A fight is reported on Jackson Street in the City of Batavia, and one person is reportedly wielding a stick. Police are responding. A vehicle believed to be associated with the fight has been stopped Pringle and Central avenues.

The Ghost Riders played Jackson Square on Friday night -- both bands.

The Ghost Riders country band shared the venue with the Ghost Riders Drum and Bugle Corps, which is also based in Batavia.

If it's ever possible to say Jackson Square is SRO, then last night was one of those nights. The square was nearly wall-to-wall music fans.

Press Release:

A bigger signature race, a new first race post time and Sunday afternoon racing in August are just some of the changes in store when racing returns for the 66th season on Monday (July 23) at Batavia Downs Casino. The pacers and trotters will meet at America’s oldest lighted harness track for 72 exciting race dates.

The Robert J. Kane Memorial Invitational Pace, the track's signature event, will now offer a $50,000 purse. This year’s Kane Memorial is slated for October 6. Last year, Aracache Hanover with Trevor Henry in the bike, lowered the Downs all-age record when he paced to victory in 1:51.1. Aracache Hanover is locally owned by William Switala and James Martin.

Racing fans will need to arrive 15 minutes earlier with first race post for all evening racing programs now slated for 6:25 p.m. Racing gates open at 5 p.m. with the exception of August 11 and September 15, when racing gates open for Old Fashioned night at 4:30 p.m.

A total of six matinees will be offered, including all four Sundays in August. The other two afternoon race cards are Labor Day and Columbus Day. Post time for all matinees remains at 1:15 p.m. with racing gates opening at 12 p.m.

Racing will be conducted on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Saturday night basis for the first two weeks of the annual Summer-Fall meet with Sundays replacing Mondays in August. Twelve races will be carded nightly except on Saturdays when the Genesee County racetrack will host 13-race programs.

A complete racing calendar is available for download at www.batavia-downs.com.

Changes were made to the wagering menu, with the major change being the minimum on trifecta wagering has been lowered to 50 cents. However a $1 wager is required. One dollar daily double wagering is also being offered.

Superfecta wagering is now offered on all races with the exception of races one and seven. The Pick-4 has been moved to the third race and the late-late double moves to the last two races nightly. The popular Pick-6, which paid $10,000 to one lucky ticket holder last season, begins on race seven.

North America’s leading dash winning harness racing driver in 2011, Dan Noble, will make his Batavia Downs debut on opening night. Noble led all drivers last year with 773 wins. He currently sits fourth this year with 320 wins.

Shawn Gray, currently the leading driver at Buffalo Raceway, will also be racing at Batavia Downs for the first time. The Maine native shipped to Buffalo in January and has notched 185 wins so far this season there.

Jim Morrill Jr., who recently won the $445,594 Yonkers Trot with Archangel, makes a special appearance on Monday night. Morrill established records for most wins and earnings in a single season at the Downs in 2006.

Again this season all racing programs will contain $2 free play coupons that can be redeemed at Players Club. The cost to purchase a program remains at $2, however on opening night and on July 28, the first New York Sire Stakes event of the season, racing programs will be free.

Player’s Club members dining in the track's historic clubhouse will receive $5 in Casino free play with the purchase of a buffet. On Sunday afternoon, the cost of the lunch buffet minus the free play coupon is just $3.95.

The entire racing season will be broadcast via live streaming video at www.batavia-downs.com. Race replays are available at the same web address.

The 2012 season features a variety of promotions, including two old fashioned nights, the biggest free handicapping contest ever and the annual family fun day at the races featuring the hilarious wiener dog races.

In an effort to better match patient care training with patient needs, UMMC recently eliminated eight licensed nurse practitioner positions in one department, but most of the people in those positions still have jobs, said Colleen Flynn, spokeswoman for UMMC.

Four part-time LPNs -- employees working no more than 20 hours a week -- were offered positions elsewhere in the hospital, Flynn said. Two accepted, one decided to go back to school and Flynn hasn't heard yet what the fourth LPN decided to do.

The four per diem positions -- LPNs who filled in for vacations or to shore up other staffing shortfalls -- in the medical surgical floor unit were eliminated but these nurses were given the opportunity to train for new per diem positions with the hospital.

Three were retirees who elected to stay retired, Flynn said, and the fourth will continue to work on a per diem basis for UMMC.

"We separated the positions to better match up skill sets for staffing reasons," Flynn said. "In most cases, hospitals no longer utilize LPNs in acute-care settings, but we still need them in other places. The scope of the practice and licensure determines what they can do for a patient."

In modern health care, patients are not as routinely hospitalized as in the past, so when patients arrive at UMMC now, Flynn said, their needs are much more acute.

"To be a hospitalized patient these days, you have to be very sick," Flynn said. "Because the acuity of patients there are more demands for patient care, so that’s why we decided just to use registered nurses (in that department)."

Residents of 400 Towers are hosting a yard sale today on the shuffle board court in front of the building.

The same location from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday will be the site of a concert by The Ghost Riders and the public is invited.

Richard Lee Maston, 30, of Colorado Avenue, Batavia, is charged with two counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, 2nd. Maston is accused of possessing two forged business checks at two separate locations within the City of Batavia, one on July 9 and one on July 18. Deputies are  investigating whether Maston allegedly cashed more than 12 other checks at locations in the City of Batavia and one location in the Town of Batavia, all between July 8 and July 17. Maston was arraigned and released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

Michael C. Buzzell, 34, of 6 Lewis Place, Batavia, is charged with menacing, 2nd, and criminal possession of a weapon, 4th. Buzzell allegedly threatened to kill a person while holding a knife. Police were called the scene at 9:15 p.m., Thursday. Buzzell was jailed on $5,000 bail.

Tyrone N. Thigpen, 35, of 5 Pearl St., Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt, 2nd. Thigpen is accused of violating a "stay away" order of protection.

Ronald J. Murray, 17, of 7 Wood St., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Murray is accused of stealing a bicycle that was parked outside of a downtown restaurant. Police report later locating Murray with the bicycle a short time later.

Ian C. Blain, 23, of Ashland Avenue, Buffalo, is charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and unlawful dealing with a child. Blain is accused of taking a vehicle from the parking lot of the Log Cabin Restaurant in Pembroke and leaving it abandoned in a field off Indian Falls Road. He's also accused of providing alcohol to a person under age 21.

Stephen P. Pahuta, 50, of Oakfield, is charged with criminal obstruction of breathing, strangulation, coercion, three counts of criminal mischief, and harassment, 2nd. Pahuta was arrested following a report of an incident at 11:40 a.m., Thursday, in Oakfield. State Police responded. No further details were released.

A caller in the area of Seven Springs Country Club, 8600 Seven Springs Road, Batavia, reports hearing a loud boom in the area of the clubhouse.

Another caller reports hearing a crackling noise like the sound of fire.

Town of Batavia Fire Department was responding to investigate, but then another caller reported there is some sort of ceremony going on in the area.

Town of Batavia fire is backing down to non-emergency response.

A voice on the radio quips, "Quite the ceremony."

UPDATE 9:03 p.m.: The fire was the result of a "small combustible liquid." A responder says, "at least I didn't catch them dancing around."

Mercy medics are called to the Genesee County Fairgrounds' racetrack for a subject with a neck injury. Town of Batavia Fire Department is on scene. Not long ago, medics took a pit worker to UMMC who had abrasions on his arms and his knuckles were sliced on one hand.

UPDATE 7:35 p.m.: A 15-year-old boy is being taken to UMMC complaining of neck pain as a result of a collision on the racetrack. He is accompanied by his mother.

A two-car accident with minor injuries is reported in the parking lot of Tops Friendly Market, 390 W. Main St. in Batavia. It is near the traffic light. City fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

UPDATE 4:57 p.m.: The city assignment is back in service.

UPDATE 5 p.m.: Mercy is transporting one patient to UMMC.

UPDATE 5:04 p.m.: The patient is a 46-year-old female complaining of pain on the left side of her neck.

A grass fire is reported in the woods behind the College Village apartments. Town of Batavia Fire Department is responding. College Village is located at 8170 Batavia Stafford Townline Road.

A car on Bank Street near Main in Downtown Batavia reportedly struck a manhole cover and it flipped up and damaged the vehicle. Police are responding to take a report.

About an hour ago, a small kitchen fire was reported at the Wendy's restaurant on Main Street in the City of Batavia. The automatic alarm system notified emergency dispatch of the incident. City firefighters responded and investigated. They then called for representatives from code enforcement and the health department to come to the scene. Wendy's is closed temporarily so their inspections can be done.

The turn out may have been but a few people at 400 Ellicott Street this morning, but the community support for the anti-bath-salt protest at 420 Emporium was much bigger.

Cars streamed by honking horns or people waved and gave a thumbs up or shouted out support.

One mother who was there said she came out because she believes bath salts have ruined her two adult sons' lives.

She said she's too embarrassed by the turn of events to give her name, but she said one of her sons made $55,000 a year and the other $40,000. They've both lost their jobs and have become exceptionally paranoid, living with sheets over their windows and convinced just about every one around them is an undercover cop.

"We took them for a ride and they said, 'there’s one,' 'there’s one,' " She said. "An old lady went by in a van and they said, 'there’s one.' I said, 'that’s an old lady. She can’t possibly be,' and they said ‘that’s what they do, they’re undercover.’"

Neither of her sons, she said, had ever gotten into any sort of trouble before they started using bath salts, which she said they bought at 420 Emporium.

Bath salts, she said, need to be completely wiped out in America.

"I’m hear because people have to see what’s going on with these kids. It’s killing them. It’s ruining their lives.  They’re losing everything they have."

Joan Liggetto (top inset photo), a licensed clinical social worker and counselor said she came out because she's just seeing too many of her clients getting messed up on bath salts.

"The more I see, the more I'm impacted," she said. "I see it just taking over youths. It's easy to get and easy to escape. I think it just makes them crazy."

She said she's seeing the same paranoia and manic behavior described by others.

"They’re normal and rational at times, but when you’re on bath salts, you’re not normal, you’re not rational," Liggetto said. "They’re staying up for three, four days; they’re on the streets at night. It’s a really, really bad epidemic the way I see it."

Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian (second inset photo) showed up as well to lend her support and she vowed again to do everything she can to get 420 Emporium shut down.

Bath salts, she said are too easy to buy.

"All you have to do is go up the counter, act crazy like somebody who is on it, and they'll sell it to you," said Christian, who pulled exactly that sort of acting job, she said, on Saturday night, and could have bought a package if she hadn't dropped the act and identified herself.

"It has to stop," Christian said.

The protest is scheduled to conclude at 1 p.m.

UPDATE: The protest pretty much dissipated by 12:30. Nicole Lang said they will put together another protest some time in the near future. Lang also said that after I left, two customers went in and one came out bragging about buying bath salts (though he didn't show a package) and the other, when he pulled away on his motorcycle, had left an empty package of alleged bath salts.

Earl Edward Vattes, 38, of Jefferson Street, Wellsville, is charged with unlawful fleeing a police officer, 3rd. Vattes was taken into custody on an arrest warrant stemming from an alleged pursuit of a motorcyclist by local law enforcement Aug. 4. Vattes is accused of failure to stop for a police officer who attempted to initiate a traffic stop for an alleged traffic violation in the City of Batavia. The motorcycle operator was pursued into the Town of Bathany where Vattes is alleged to have dumped the bike and fled into a cornfield on foot. A search of the area was unsuccessful in locating the suspect and the Sheriff's Office believes Vattes has been identified as the operator of the motorcycle.

Nichole M. McKerrow, 27, of 227 Ross St., Batavia, is charged with DWI, two counts of aggravated DWI (Leandra's Law, for allegedly driving drunk with children in the car), aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, and refusal to take breath test. McKerrow is accused of being involved in a minor motor-vehicle accident. When Sgt. John Peck and Officer Kevin DeFelice arrived on scene, McKerrow was allegedly found passed out in the car. Two children, ages 3 and 5, were also allegedly in the vehicle. McKerrow was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Garth P. Hubbard, 21, of Kibbe Wilcos Road, Pitcher, is charged with public lewdness. Hubbard is accused of urinating in public at Darien Lake Theme Park.

Bernadine Doris Peet, 40, of Town Pump Circle, Rochester, is charged with DWI and speeding. Peet was allegedly caught on radar driving 56 mph in a 35 mph zone in the Village of Corfu at 10:51 p.m., Monday, by Deputy Patrick Reeves.  Peet was jailed on $2,000 bail.

Jason Michael Wagner, 33, of Alden Road, Carnegie, Pa., is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and failure obey police officer. Wagner allegedly attempted to drive around Sheriff's patrols that were directing traffic at the intersection of Route 77 and Sumner Road, Darien, at 11:29 p.m., Tuesday. Wagner was released on $200 pre-arranged bail.

U.S. Attorney for Western New York Bill Hochul was in Batavia tonight to throw out the first pitch at the Muckdogs game.

Press release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) is fighting to keep dangerous synthetic drugs like bath salts out of local stores and off our streets. A recent wave of crime and menace has broken out in Batavia and across the Western New York region as more people have begun abusing the chemical compound marketed as a bathing product.

Hawley voted in favor of a law banning the compound most commonly found in the substance, and a federal ban was recently instituted barring the sale and possession of the drug. Manufacturers, however, have traditionally skirted attempts to outlaw the product by tweaking the chemical composition, which has produced grave risks to health and public safety.

As a result, Assemblyman Hawley is signing on to several pieces of legislation that will strengthen New York’s ability to eliminate all forms of this dangerous substance and end the terror plaguing local communities.

“Local stores are selling products that are tearing families apart and threatening the safety of our communities,” Hawley said. “The effects that bath salts and other synthetic drugs have had on our community are all too real, with many of us knowing friends, family members and neighbors who have either succumbed to the products or been hurt by someone who has.

"We must join together in awareness and vigilance of the threats that these drugs pose and do all we can to get these products out of local stores in order to protect the upstanding members of our local community.”

Hawley is also supporting multiple bills banning the sale and distribution of synthetic cannabinoids, another harmful substance that is allowed to be sold in stores due to loopholes in state law.

These marijuana-like products are marketed as incense or potpourri and are legally sold in a variety of outlets. Dangerous side effects include hallucinations, vomiting, agitation, increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure and other complications.

Hawley voted in favor of an Assembly bill banning synthetic cannabinoids and is supporting further legislation to have a ban adopted into state law.

Note: There is a picket against bath salts in Batavia scheduled for tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 400 Ellicott St.

Nicole Lang said today she had no idea what bath salts did to people when her son was still running The Laughing Buddha on Ellicott Street, Batavia.

Her son, 28-year-old Jason Lang, allegedly sold bath salts at that location and last week Nicole Lang went to the new head shop (named 420 Emporium) on Ellicott Street and demanded that the store stop selling bath salts to her son.

The confrontation led to Nicole being issued an appearance ticket for alleged trespass, and the news reports of that event led to several people in the community to ask why Nicole Lang wasn't confronting Jason when he was allegedly selling the synthetic cocaine/methamphetamine.

"I never seen how bad the drug was," Nicole said. "I guess you really don't understand it until you see a person who is on it.

"He shouldn’t have sold it," she added. "And now this is his punishment because his life is just about shot."

Within the past several weeks, Jason Lang has been arrested for allegedly calling the landlord of 420 Emporium and impersonating a State Police "detective"; he's been charged with falsely reporting an incident for allegedly calling emergency dispatchers and reporting shots fired at a local hotel; and, he's reportedly made several other calls to emergency dispatchers reporting things that turned out to be unfounded (but no charges were filed related to those calls).

Today, Jason Lang was supposed to appear before Justice Tom Williams in Town of Batavia Court on the false impersonation charge, but Lang's attorney Edward Martin told WIlliams that because the date of the case had been moved, his client didn't know about today's scheduled appearance.

Williams accepted the explanation and agreed to postpone Lang's appearance until Aug. 21.

About two hours before Jason's scheduled appearance, Lang called The Batavian's Howard Owens to talk about his situation.

During the 20-minute phone call, Lang acknowledged that he had a court appearance scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Town of Batavia and said that he would be there.

When we attempted to ask Martin about this apparent discrepancy, as Martin rushed to his car, he said, "What do you want me to tell you? What my client said to me?" He then jumped in his car, slammed the door and refused to take the business card of another reporter.

As soon as Martin drove off, Jason Lang called Owens again and wanted to confirm that his attorney had been able to reschedule his court appearance.

Lang said he wanted to meet with Owens.

Within three minutes, he was in the court parking lot talking with Owens and WHAM 13's Sean Carroll.

The reason Lang didn't appear in court today, he said, is "because my attorney knew I had more important things to do."

He then asked that we not disclose the nature of his other business today.

During the morning phone call, Lang was talking very fast about a wide range of conspiracies that tie in the federal government, state police, specific local police officers, the Chinese government and "every important person in Genesee County."

He believes he knows too much about what's really going on in Genesee County related to bath salts and that his life is in danger.

He said the State Police have been monitoring his every move, including placing cameras in VCRs and other electronic devices because they're making a documentary about bath salts.

He said it is either an FBI agent or State Police internal affairs investigator who first got him hooked on bath salts.

He said he has porno films that have "bogus" FBI warnings at the beginning saying the films were made in California, but that the actors in the films are all "the most important people in Genesee County."

Nicole Lang said when her son is on bath salts, he talks fast and rambles on about conspiracies.

"We don't really know what he's talking about. He says, 'please don't think I'm crazy. I'm going to solve this puzzle.'  He says, 'Bath salts made me brilliant. I’ve learned everything about everybody.' "

A year ago, Lang seemed to be doing pretty well for himself and Nicole said she was proud that her son was making a good living running his own businesses.

His twin brother, she said, decided to get an education and is now in a doctorate program, but she said Jay wanted to prove he could make something of himself just through hard work rather than getting an advanced education.

But when Lang decided to open a store that was part head shop and part tattoo parlor, that's when things started to go wrong.

"When he told us he was opening we told him, 'no, you don’t need that you’re doing good,' " Nicole Lang said. "The Laughing Buddha is the most evil thing that ever happened because that’s where everything started, at The Laughing Buddha, and that’s where everything went downhill."

All that Lang once had, she said, has been replaced by a pile of bills and bankruptcy for Lang seems inevitable.

Asked if Jason is a threat to the community, Nicole said he could be, but said she believes he would never intentionally hurt anybody. He's a bigger threat to himself, she said.

The day Nicole went to the 420 Emporium, she said she had spent the afternoon with him in a cemetery where he prayed for God to take his life.

"He said, 'just come to shoot me now because I’m not going to commit suicide, because I want to go to heaven and see my children some day.'

"One of these days, one of these days he is going to be dead," Lang's mother added. "Or he's going to wind up in prison for the rest of his life because he’s under the influence, and really, it’s not even him. He’s a good person. Right now he’s so messed up, it’s not Jason."

The protest planned for tomorrow, though, isn't just about Jason.

"I’m not just trying to save him," his mother said. "There are so many people. There are his kids and there are other kids. This is just such a horrible drug right now. This is a awful drug."

Her son, at least today, agrees.

He supports making bath salts illegal he said and doesn't believe others should use it.

"I apologize to the community," Jason said. "I think bath salts in general can screw up a lot of people's lives. People don’t trust you anymore, you lose friends, you lose finances, just like any other drug. What I can assure you though is that through this whole thing, I've kept my sanity."

Later in the same conversation, he said, "They (bath salts) are dangerous. They’re dangerous. It’s something you don’t want to mess with, just like other drugs. One thing I’ve learned about bath salts is they kind of get a grip on you more than any other drugs."

"I would like to make a public apology," he added, "to the police, to anybody I’ve caused grief to, any thing that has gone on that’s been a negative side to it; however, I did learn a lot of really interesting things from it. If there’s somebody out there who could help me in that sense, that would be awesome."