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Sallome's Deli closed

By Philip Anselmo

Sad news for local gastronomes: Sallome's Deli in Batavia is dark. The Oak Street eatery has been closed up since at least last week. A sign on the door simply reads: "Closed until further notice," and a number is given where customers are encouraged to leave a message. We called that number and left a message. Anyone with a gift certificate is encouraged to call the same number (201-7300) and leave an address where a refund can be mailed.

Sallome's opened up this past summer.

We will keep you informed of any updates.

Poll: Should the city wash its hands of the county-wide ambulance service?

By Philip Anselmo

Later tonight, Batavia's City Council will vote to cease its funding and operation of the county-wide ambulance service managed by the city fire department. Discussion among members of Council was had at a recent budget meeting, and Council President Charlie Mallow has assured us that they are essentially all in agreement and that tonight's vote is merely the formal act on what has already been decided.

Seventeen of the 18 other municipalities in the county that benefit from the ambulance service have expressed their desire to continue with the city-run service. So we may see a few speakers at tonight's meeting. The vote will follow the Council's conference meeting, which begins at 7:00pm at City Hall.

Should the city scrap its ambulance service?
( surveys)

Back to back house fires keep Batavia fire crews busy throughout the night

By Philip Anselmo

From the Batavia City Fire Department:

City of Batavia firefighters were kept very busy for hours with back-to-back house fires in the city, Saturday night beginning at 10:22 PM.

The first alarm came in for 12 Elm Street with report of a possible explosion and flames showing Within three minutes, city firefighters arrived on scene and quickly extinguished a fire that was found in the side stairwell of the three-story apartment house. Four residents were alerted by smoke detector and were safely outside the structure when the firefighters arrived. Firefighters performed a search and rescue for a fifth resident, thought to be on the third story. After searching the apartment, it was determined that the resident was gone for the evening. Damage was confined to the stairwell. The home was ventilated for smoke removal. The American Red Cross provided the residents with temporary accomodations. Total damage was estimated at $2,500. The cause is under investigation.

While still on scene at the Elm Street fire, a second fire alarm was called in for a house fire located at 45 Walnut Street. With a two-minute response time, the firefighters arrived to find flames coming from the windows of the two-apartment structure.

A general alarm of fire was made to all off duty city firefighters as well as a mutual aid request to the town of Batavia Fire Department. The town supplied an engine and a rescue truck to the scene and a second engine to stand by at City Fire Headquarters. The fire was declared under control in approximately 25 minutes.

The homeowner smelled smoke and discovered the fire in the ceiling above a wood stove. He alerted the other occupants and all escaped safely before firefighters arrived. The American Red Cross was also able to assist the occupants of this second fire of the night.

The home was completely gutted with a damage estimate of approximately $50,000.

Fortunately, there were no injuries to residents or firefighters in either fire with fire crews returning to quarters at 2:20 AM.

A pair of house fires in Batavia on Saturday night

By Howard B. Owens

Firefighters were battling a blaze at 12 Elm St. Saturday night, when a second alarm was sounded for a fire at 45 Walnut St., according to a report in the Democrat & Chronicle.

The Elm St. fire caused an estimated $2,500 damage to a multil-family complex, 

The two-apartment building on Walnut was gutted, causing an estimated $50,000 in damage.

Off-duty firefighters and units from the Town of Batavia were called in to help Walnut St. blaze, which took 25 minutes to suppress.

 


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Pine Grove Inn's 'Legal Beverages' sign is a mystery

By Howard B. Owens

Whenever I drive down Route 5 into Batavia, I pass by the Pine Grove Inn, which always looks like an inviting roadside bar and grill.

But I've long been perplexed by the "Legal Beverages" on the sign.

I stopped in for a beer late this afternoon and chatted with owner Michele Klees.

She's friendly and quite willing to talk, but she doesn't know much about the sign either. It was there when she bought the place 10 years ago.

As far as she knows, the location has always been a bar, but she's heard that long, long ago, it was a filling station.

I'm far from the first person to stop and take a picture of the sign, she said. It generates a lot of curiosity from Route 5 travelers, but she's never been able to find anybody who can explain the history of it.

Apparently, such notification was required by the state of New York, but I didn't turn up any history in a quick Google search.

Anybody know anything about the sign?

One other curiosity about the Pine Grove Inn -- there are darn few pine trees around the location.  A friend of Michele's told me there was once a grove of pines there, but disease took all but one of them.

The bar, beautifully handcrafted by the man mentioned above and another friend of Michele's, is made of a thick piece of pine. I think I'll stop in there again some time. It was a friendly visit.

Chamber of Commerce announces 2008 Chamber Award winners

By Philip Anselmo

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce has announced its 2008 Chamber Awards winners. Awards honor individuals and businesses in Genesee County that have shown a commitment to community.

This year's recipients are:

Business of the Year

Roxy’s Music Store
Rose Caccamise
228 West Main Street
Batavia, NY  14020 

Special Service Recognition: Agriculture

Tom Rivers
c/o The Daily News
2 Apollo Drive
Batavia, NY  14020

Special Service Recognition: Business

The Mancuso Family
C/O Rick & Ben Mancuso
216 Main Street
Batavia, NY  14020

Geneseean of the Year

Betty Lapp
9464 Creek Road
Batavia, NY  14020

From the Chamber:

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 37th Annual Awards Dinner which will be held on Saturday, March 7, 2009 at the Batavia Holiday Inn. This is the County’s premier event that honors businesses and individuals for their achievements in business, community service and volunteerism. Ticket prices are $55.00 per person or a table of 10 for $500.00. 
 
Come enjoy an evening of Awards, Fun, Friends & Food. This year’s theme is GROW-4U, Genesee Region Organizations Working For You.
 
If you are interested in Sponsorship Opportunities you can select from the below or contact Kelly J. Bermingham, Director of Membership & Special Events, to create a package specifically tailored to your requirements/needs. Call 585-343-7440, ext. 26 or email kbermingham@geneseeny.com.

Batavian spends the day in Le Roy

By Philip Anselmo

The Batavian is spending the day in Le Roy today. In fact, I'm already sitting, sipping a coffee at Javas on Main—p.s., they make a fine breakfast sandwich: the bacon is crisp, the egg tasty and the bagel oozes buttery goodness. Plus the service is a dream. Of course, I'm working, too. Of course.

So if you've got any ideas for what we should do while we're here—places to see, people to talk to, shops to visit, restaurants to patronize—please let me know. I'm on the hunt for Le Roy stories. I'm sure they're out there.

News roundup: City poised to scrap county-wide ambulance service

By Philip Anselmo

Batavia is ready to get out of the ambulance business. City Council said last night that it would vote Monday to terminate its agreement with the rest of the county to provide ambulance service throughout the county, according to an article this morning in the Daily News. Joanne Beck writes: "That will mean no more city ambulance service for all residents of Genesee County, including the city."

"No more city ambulance." Flat out.

WBTA's Dan Fischer is quick to point, however, that the void will not remain empty for long. "If council votes to close down the ambulance service, expect a deal to be struck with a private ambulance service out of Rochester or Buffalo," he says.

Beck put together a fine article, replete with colorful quotes from Council, such as this one from Frank Ferrando:

“If we’re making money, none of us would want to give it up.... I think we want to provide this service, and it’s an excellent service, we just can’t foot the bill. We can’t foot the bill for the whole damn county.”

As for the rest of "the whole damn county"—they're not so willing to give up the service. Beck writes:

Seventeen of 18 Genesee County municipalities have indicated they’d like to extend the current ambulance service agreement another year, City Manager Jason Molino said. Pembroke opted out. The city must first “execute an extension and modification agreement” to continue offering the service before it can then notify those municipalities of the city’s termination clause, Molino said.

Boys basketball state rankings released

By Brian Hillabush

Both Batavia boys basketball team are receiving some nice rankings in the newest state ranking poll, which was released today.

Batavia is ranked 12th in the state, moving up from last week's No. 17 ranking.

Notre Dame dropped from No. 5 to No. 6 in Class D.

The only other state ranked team locally is Oakfield-Alabama, which moved up from No. 13 to No. 12 in Class C.

 

Jeep rollover accident on Griswold Road

By Howard B. Owens

A woman reportedly suffered a head injury in a single-vehicle rollover accident on Griswold Road east of Warner Road.

We have no information on the seriousness of the injury at this time.

The woman was reportedly in a tan Jeep Grand Cherokee.

We will provide more details when and if they become available.

Poll: Downtown Batavia celebrations: Fund 'em or scrap 'em

By Philip Anselmo

Yesterday, we ran a post about the push by some members of Batavia's City Council to cut down on the funding for downtown celebrations, such as Summer in the City and Christmas in the City. Councilman Bob Bialkowski explained that they only wanted to limit the amount of funding available to cut down on overtime costs, but that they would not eliminate the celebrations altogether. Bialkowski justifies the push for cuts as a measure to minimize the city's property tax rate. Opponents of the cuts, however, argue that any cut in funding would shift too much of a cost burden onto the Batavia Business Improvement District, sponsors of the events.

What do you think?

Should the city cut funding for downtown events?
( surveys)

Sutherland knocks off Batavia at home

By Brian Hillabush

Sometimes you can fight as hard as possible, but are still going to lose.

Pittsford Sutherland had a huge size advantage and owned the boards, and were dropping 3-pointers like crazy and beat host Batavia 58-49. This gives the Blue Devils a 10-2 record, with both losses coming to Sutherland.

It is still possible for Batavia to tie Sutherland for the Monroe County League title, but it is going to basically take two Sutherland losses with Batavia winning out.

The Blue Devils have won or shared the Division III championship for the last seven seasons, and will not be competing for a league title next year as Batavia will only play a half-league schedule.

Even with the Knights going box-and-1 and double-teaming Andrew Hoy, Batavia was in a lose game i the first quarter and early into the second.

Andrew, Dakota Irvin and Adam Pettinella all drained 3-pointers to give the Blue Devils a 15-14 lead after one period of play.

Robert Hoy opened the second quarter with a trifecta and Mike Lee followed with a bucket, and Batavia was leading 20-14.

Then, Sutherland went on an amazing run, scoring 16 straight points over the next 4 1/2 minutes. Patrick O'Keefe had five points in the stretch and Brian Lewis hit two 3-pointers.

All of a sudden, that six point lead turned into a 30-20 deficit.

Batavia ended the half with some momentum as Marcus Hoy drained a trey and Robert Hoy added a basket. It was only 30-25 at the break.

Joe Schlossel had two baskets with Andrew Hoy and Marcus Hoy getting one apiece, but Dylan Sherwood scored twice and O'Keefe added a bucket to keep things even. 

The lead then opened up again as the Knights went on another run, with Dan Waldbillig and O'Keefe getting baskets - with two Andrew Hoy free throws sandwiched in - before Sherwood and Lewis both scored to give Sutherland a 45-35 advantage.

Again, the Blue Devils fought back early in the fourth quarter.

Andrew Hoy, Robert Hoy, Schlossel and Marcus Hoy had four straight buckets to make the score 45-43. Wayne Dillworth and Waldbillig had consecutive baskets, and then Dan O'Keefe drained a 3-pointer that was basically the nail in the coffin.

Dylan Sherwood, Patrick O'Keefe had 12 points apiece for the Knights (9-2).

Marcus Hoy had nine points with four assists to lead Batavia (10-2), with Andrew Hoy scoring 11 points and Joe Schlossel adding 12. Robert Hoy had nine points.

 

Batavia cheerleading wins fourth straight Monroe County title

By Brian Hillabush

 

Many sports enthusiasts will tell you that cheerleading is not a sport. I disagree. 

These teams that you see on the sidelines at football games and at the ends of the court at basketball games, practice as much as those boys sports teams.

They don't have as many competitions, but so far Batavia is doing as well as possible, going 3-0 with just sectionals coming up on Feb. 22.

I showed up for a quick video shoot and some interviews and was able to see what a group of 20 cheerleaders together can be. Rookie coach Colleen Sullivan let them have fun, but when it was business time, it was business time.

Maybe that's why she's carrying on the tradition of Krista Shamp (used to be Glow), who turned Batavia cheerleading from an average squad into a county and sectional contender.

Heck, the squad won its fourth consecutive Monroe County League title on Sunday, beating second-place finisher East Irondequoit by a whopping 19 points. This comes after sectional championships in 2006 and 2007 and winning a first-ever fall title this year.

The squad has many personalities, ranging from some quiet girls to the boisterous senior Ana Spikes, who spent much of the end of last basketball season harassing me at games.

And then you have some true leaders, like Taylor Chmielowiec, whose brother Mike is one of the best basketball players in Batavia history. In chatting with her, I see a lot of similar personality traits. You can tell that a senior that has been on varsity for four years is a leader.

And then there is the new coach. 

Sullivan is a 2006 graduate of Batavia and was a football cheerleader for three years and basketball for four, all under Shamp, who is her neighbor, friend and mentor.

Sullivan also cheered for the Rochester Elite All Heat All-star team for two years.

She is currently in college and plans on running the program for as long as possible. 

She is 3-0 as a basketball cheerleading coach and can end up 4-0 if Batavia can win sectionals on Feb. 22 at RIT.

The entire roster is:Sasha Mruczek, Carissa Hyde, Madison Musilli, Taylor Chmielowiec, Jamie Turman, Sarah Stendts, Amanda Wormley, Kaley Falkowski, Jenna Sallome, Nikki Longhini, Petra Dietrich, Mari Geer, Alex Saraceni, Morgan SChlossel, Shawna Platt, Ana Spikes, Meghan Dwyer, Mikala Phillips, Leah Mruczek, Emily Sallome, Erika Bucci, Rachel Guppenberger, Natalie Tuites and Amy Schmitt.

Obama: Government should be transparent

By Howard B. Owens

Today, President Barack Obama made this statement:

Government should be transparent. Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing. Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.

On the same subject, the Washington Post reports:

The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears," Obama said in the FOIA memo, adding later that "In responding to requests under the FOIA, executive branch agencies (agencies) should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of the public."

His memo on government transparency states that the Obama Administration "will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government."

Follow the Post link for full text of President Obama's message.

The need for government transparency isn't just a federal thing. It applies to local government as well.  You know, governments like, oh, the City of Batavia.

Whenever a government agency fails to answer timely requests for information, to not ensure all relevant media receives ready and easy access to information, to stymie full disclosure of information by prohibiting government employees from speaking publicly about issues that effect taxpayers, then it isn't really serving citizens to its highest and best ability.

Current records for Batavia grapplers

By Brian Hillabush

 I received some updated individual records for Batavia's wrestling team, which is ranked 18th in the state at 16-5. Wins come easy when you have a roster putting up individual records like this.

Ryan Darch easily leads the way with a perfect 29-0 record.

Joe Muoio leads the team with 17 pins and has a solid 23-8 record.

Nick Lazarony is 26-2 and Troy Ireland is 22-3, with Anthony D'Aurizio currently at 27-4 and Ryan Goodsell at 24-5.

Josh Mase is 23-5 and Trey Henderson is 20-9.

 

Downtown events could land on the budget chopping block—or not...

By Philip Anselmo

Earlier this morning, one of our readers, John Roach, left the following comment:

It’s a shame that after all the hard work by BID, the 5 Republicans on City Council have submitted a budget proposal that will take enough money away from city celebrations and events that it might kill the Summer/Christmas in the City.

That caught our attention, and we set out to find exactly what the City Council had planned for budget cuts that might affect future events downtown. We asked for comment from Council President Charlie Mallow and Don Burkel, director of the downtown Business Improvement District. Burkel has not yet commented. Burkel responded via e-mail at noon today:

"There should be no budget cuts for Christmas in the City, Summer in the City or any other BID activities, as this would definitely have a negative impact on the downtown businesses.  In this time of economic hardship the merchants need these events to generate activity to attract shoppers and visitors to the Batavia Business Improvement District."

Mallow responded in an e-mail:

"I was sent a proposed amendment to lower the city's contribution from a few of the council members. Council will be talking about this proposed amendment as well as the rest that were submitted on Saturday.

"From my point of view a consensus was come to on the amount of this line item in the last budget. I do not support the cut, I think its unfair and hurts the businesses downtown and I think doing anything to jeopardize either event would lower our quality of life in the city.

"The members that proposed the amendment alluded to the idea that they had a majority in favor of the cut. I find that hard to believe."

While we were waiting to hear back from Mallow and Burkel, we also spoke with a few other members of Council: Rose Mary Christian, Kathy Briggs and Bob Bialkowski.

Bialkowski, who expressed an overall optimism about the budget process this year, said: "We're not eliminating any downtown events." Instead, he said, several members of Council were looking at ways to reduce overtime costs—especially those related to the management of downtown events—to help reduce the property tax burden. While this would not "eliminate" downtown events, it would reduce the funding available for them.

According to the budget proposal prepared by the office of the city manager, actual overtime costs so far paid out in the current budget season total more than $530,000, as listed in the budget's general fund. That total does not include such special funds as water and sewer, ambulance—in which overtime costs exceed $300,000—and the mall, which for some reason is maintained as a separate fund.

Nevertheless, most of those overtime expenses fall within the budgeted amounts. In fact, both fire and police overtime costs were under. For some reason, the communications department totaled more than four times what was budgeted. To date, that department has accrued $28,612 in overtime costs, while a mere $7,000 was budgeted.

What's most apt here, however, is the overtime cost for "community celebrations," which has totaled $4,997 so far. Those are the costs that Bialkowski has called into question. He says that if the city could get more use out of volunteers for the downtown celebrations and shift the schedule for assistance from public works employees from the weekend to Friday and Monday, the cost would drop from, say, $1,000 to $500, since overtime costs would be avoided.

"I'm a big believer for volunteering for events," he said. "We're just trying to keep any property tax minimal. We're looking at all costs, trying to keep it down as low as possible."

Cutting back on overtime costs are just one way he would hope to get expenses down for the next budget season. He has proposed a list of amendments, he says, that would reduce about $70,000 in "miscellaneous items" and by sharing services and getting more time out of certain city vehicles.

Christian and Briggs said that the cuts proposed by Bialkowski and others would, in fact, cut the funding for downtown events and shift the cost burden onto the BID, which would not be able to manage, and so be forced to eliminate the events.

"Some council members have recommended cuts in this area," said Briggs in an e-mail. "One suggestion was cutting it from $3,000 to $2,000. Nothing is definite yet. In my opinion the events shouldn't be scrapped. I'm not going to support this cut. We can't expect the Business Improvement District to pick up all of the cost, and we have to have some celebrations, right!"

Christian is of the same mind. She says that she is "not one of them," referring to some other members on Council who are trying to cut the funding for downtown events. Instead of those cuts, she said that she asked for City Manager Jason Molino to see if he can cut 1 to 1 1/2 percent from elsewhere in the budget. She hopes to get an answer on where and how that might be pulled off at the session Saturday.

"We'll see if Jason can find cuts in certain areas," she said. "The budget is astronomical. It's $24 million. We have to be realistic. The economy is a disaster. The stock market is a disaster. Even the president has said, it's not up to government, it's up to us. It's up to the people to make a change."

HS boys highlights for Tuesday

By Brian Hillabush

 Jon Casper had a dominant performance Tuesday helping to lead his Le Roy wrestling team to a 59-27 win over Hornell.

Casper pinned Tyler Warriner in just 23 seconds at 215 pounds.

Jesse Brennan also had a pin for the Oatkan Knights at 119.

--------------------------------------------------------

Batavia downed Kendall on the mat with ease, winning 59-30 to improve to 16-5.

Nick Lazaroni pinned James Klafehn in just 1:15 at 112 pounds and Will Ely droppe Lance Requa in 5:10 at 125 pounds.

------------------------------------------------------

Byron-Bergen (2-9) was able to hang with Northstar Christian, but a 21-8 third quarter allowed Northstar (9-3) to get the 56-40 boys basketball win.

Donald Harris had 13 points with seven rebounds, assists and steals while David Miller pitched in 11 points for Northstar.

David Garnish had a double-double for the Bees, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Tyler Sass added 10 points.

Batavia's Chmielowiec and UofR take third at Chase Tournament

By Brian Hillabush

 The University of Rochester won the consolation game this past weekend and wound up taking third at the Chase Tournament, which features top area college basketball teams.

Batavia grad Mike Chmielowiec was injured in the semifinals loss to St. John Fisher, 71-66. Chmielowiec informed me this evening that the injury was a minor sprained ankle and he sat out the consolation game as a precaution.

He will be back in action on Friday as Rochester takes on Washington University.

St. John Fisher beat Roberts Wesleyan 72-55 in the finals. 

 

Batavia loss to Letchworth doesn't matter, now ranked in the state (updated)

By Brian Hillabush

 Batavia suffered one of harshest losses area wrestling has seen in a while, with the two final Letchworth grapplers pinning Batavia wrestlers to get a 1-point win.

Well, that performance against the 14th ranked Indians, combined with Batavia's 66-12 win over Hornell was enough to put the Blue Devils into the state rankings in the small-school division.

And it was more than just a small jump from receiving an honorable mention as Batavia jumped all the way up to No. 18, one ahead of Attica, which has an 11-9 record.

Attica dropped from No. 14 to No. 19. Batavia is 15-5.

This is the first time that a Batavia wrestling team has ever been ranked in the state.

"The kids are ecstatic because this was one of our goals," Batavia coach Rick Stewart said. "We put together a schedule of some of the toughest teams in the state so that we could reach this goal."

Holley is also ranked, surprisingly low, at No. 29.

Batavia has two tournaments (including the Monroe County Championships, where they have not had a champ since 1980) and three dual meets left to go before sectional time.

Poll: Name the Muckdogs mascot

By Philip Anselmo

We just got up a post about a contest to name the new Batavia Muckdogs mascot and thought to give the readers of The Batavian a chance to share some of their suggestions. We've offered a few obvious choices—or maybe not obvious, who knows—but most folks will likely want to give their own. If that's the case, simply click the 'Other' option and type in your choice. We'll retrieve the suggestions from the poll site and post them in the comments field throughout the day.

If you would like to make your vote official, please download the official Name the Mascot form and drop it off at Dwyer Stadium.

What should we name the new Muckdogs mascot?
( surveys)

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