This guitar was stolen from a local woman and pawned at a local pawn shop. The pawn shop has no record of who bought the guitar. Paul Draper is trying to recover the guitar for his aunt. If you know the whereabouts of the guitar, e-mail Paul at TheGCMG@Gmail.com.
It's been a litigious year so far for the City of Batavia, so the City Council is being asked to vote on a budget amendment that would increase legal spending by $71,733.
About $50,000 of that expense is related various lawsuits and Article 78 claims, including the ongoing legal battle between the City and the Mall Merchants Association (the city is both being sued and suing).
City Manager Jason Molino didn't say what portion of that $50,000 in extra litigation expense is because of the mall lawsuits.
"The amount of litigation can't be predicted," City Manager Jason Molino told the council. "I can't tell you how many claims we're going to get. For example, we've had three more claims in just the past week."
The City Council will be asked to vote on the budget amendment at it's next business meeting in two weeks.
Claims and legal matters against the city range from snowplows knocking over mailboxes to tax assessment challenges.
"Unfortunately, we live in a litigious environment," Molino said. "Two things: one, anybody can sue for anything; two, a municipality, I think, is usually a higher target than most because they're viewed as having an unlimited amount of resources. That's the nature of being in this country and the nature of being a municipality. As long as we own property as a municipality, as long as we provide services, we're going to be the subject of litigation regardless of the merit."
While the city has been subject to some claims Molino characterized as meritless, there has been other litigation -- such as Terry Platt and Platt Properties' Article 78 action over his planned rooming house on East Main Street -- that might have more substance.
Each case, whether frivolous or serious, generates not only legal fees, but staff time for research and investigation, Molino said.
"With any claim, there's an assessment that's done internally to understand the risk, to understand the city's exposure, understand the merit of the city's case, understand the merit of the city's position, versus the merit, or in many cases, the lack of merit, of the opposing party," Molino said. "In all of those circumstances, we do that analysis to understand how do we resolve this amicably and how do we resolve it in our best interest."
Another $28,000 of the city's extra legal expenses have been related to redevelopment projects, such the Carr's Warehouse building and the Della Penna property.
The city's annual legal expenses include the city's attorney, George Van Ness and his law firm, outside council on specific cases, labor relations counsel and prosecution of code violations.
Molino didn't have a count available of how many individual cases the city has handled so far in 2014.
Molino said there have been years of fewer legal cases and years of an even greater volume of claims against the city, which is why, he said, legal expenditures are always hard to nail down at budget time.
Also not available is how much the city has spent on legal services over the six years it's been in some form of legal battle with the Mall Merchants Association.
Ben Franklin famously warned, "If we don't hang together, by heavens we shall hang separately."
City Councilman John Canale thinks it's time the various agencies working in the City of Batavia do a better job of hanging together.
To that end, he's asking his fellow council members to authorize a little extra spending: About $1,900 to help the Batavia Improvement District pay for the colorful hanging baskets lining Main Street again this year.
"Unfortunately, there's a lot of division of agencies in the city that are all working for the betterment of the city, but nobody wants to get on the same page," Canale said.
The BID stepped forward and paid $10,000 toward the cost of garbage dumpster containers off School Street. Now the city can reciprocate by pitching in for the flower baskets.
City crews hung the baskets at the behest of the BID on Friday, in time for Memorial Day.
Canale acknowledged that the city funding Vibrant Batavia has been a sore spot for some, and the city pitching in on the hanging baskets can smooth things over a bit.
"The BID doesn't have to do all the things they do," Canale said. "They don't have to put up flowers to make our Downtown more beautiful and more attractive to future businesses or businesses that may want to relocate. I think it would be great for the city to partner on a project like this."
Flowers Downtown are part of the city's economic development efforts, Councilwoman Patti Pacino said.
"Whether people choose to believe it or not, STAMP is enormous," Pacino said. "The ag park. These are all new people who don't live here, haven't lived here, and I'm going to guess they're married and have children. I'd like them to come in and see this is a good city to raise children in and live in. Flowers in the city, it sounds like such a small thing, but it makes it that much more interesting, that much more available, and that much better to come here."
Councilwoman Kathy Briggs suggested the city already does its share by watering the baskets.
Asked after the meeting about the city's contributions to hanging flower baskets Downtown, City Manager Jason Molino said, "The city does a lot of participation and cooperation with the Business Improvement District because we value improving our Downtown and our business community, and that helps the community as a whole. This is another one of those circumstances where we're going to partner with them to do more in the future."
From WBTA:
Jamie Carney, a veteran of two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, died in New Jersey on Saturday. He was 27.
The cause of the young man’s death remains a mystery.
“His goal this past weekend was to go to New York City for the first time in his life, see New York City, come home for Memorial Day to the Rubin family in Massachusetts where it was their son’s birthday. He was going to celebrate Memorial Day and the birthday with this little boy. He never made it back because he died in a hotel room,” said Paula Zirbel, a close friend of the family’s.
Zirbel said Jamie was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. However, he was starting to build a life in Boston and he had dedicated his last 16 months caring for a special needs child -- whose birthday was approaching -- and recently began his undergrad work in Early Childhood Development. That’s what makes his unexpected death that much more heartbreaking.
“When your son goes to war, as Dave and Elizabeth had told me last night,” she said, “you fear that this phone call is going to come. Once he goes through two tours and he comes home and he’s not okay for a while, you still fear that this phone call will come. When this phone call came, the family was finally happy and content for Jamie.
"He came home for Easter and claimed how much he had found some peace and some love for this little boy and a direction of what he wanted to do and he was starting to heal. So, this was a time when this phone call came that the family was finally relaxed, they were finally at ease. When the call came it was at a time when they were naively thinking everything was going to be okay.”
Read more on WBTAi.com.
You can donate any amount at this link anonymously:http://www.gofundme.com/9idz30
State Police say it disappeared much too fast -- a 1966 red Corvette was apparently stolen from the parking lot of Applebee's in Batavia at about 5 p.m., May 7.
The classic coupe has chrome side pipes, a black interior and is owned by a Wyoming County resident.
Anyone who is familiar with this vehicle or has information regarding this incident is asked to contact the State Police at (585) 344-3311.
Local photographer/artist Susan Meier (whose work was featured recently at the Blue Pearl Yoga studio) was selected to exhibit at the Todmorden Papermill Gallery in Toronto, Canada, as part of the CAPIC show. (Canadian Assoc. of Professional Image Creators).
Meier also received four awards from the Batavia Photography Club at its annual awards ceremony this year.
Sweta Kolisetti, of Batavia, whose major is Food Science, has been named to the dean's list at Clemson University for the Spring 2014 semester.
To be named to the dean's list, a student achieved a grade-point average between 3.50 and 3.99 on a 4.0 scale.
Ranked No. 21 among national public universities, Clemson University is a major, land-grant, science- and engineering-oriented research university that maintains a strong commitment to teaching and student success. Clemson is an inclusive, student-centered community characterized by high academic standards, a culture of collaboration, school spirit, and a competitive drive to excel.
The Batavia High School Class of 1984 will be celebrating its 30th class reunion with two gatherings in July.
Alumni of the class and their guests are invited to attend informal get-togethers on the nights of July 18th at Terry Hills Golf Course & Banquet Facility, Clinton Street; and July 19th at Batavia Country Club, Batavia-Byron Road. There will be a cash bar and hors d’oeuvres served throughout the evening.
The reunion committee is in the process of mailing out information to classmates.
To RSVP or if you have any address changes or questions contact either Kelly J. Bermingham, 585-356-4722, kbermingham@geneseeny.com or Jane Roach Johnson, 585-739-0378, peerless@rochester.rr.com.
The class also has a Facebook Event page that you can RSVP to at https://www.facebook.com/events/1387730391449332/ (BHS Class of ’84 Reunion).
Bradley Douglas Miller, 32, of Fullington Road, Attica, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Douglas was allegedly involved in a fight with a neighbor. Both parties suffered minor injuries.
Karen Marie Cummings, 45, of Alexander Road, Alexander, is charged with two counts of harassment, 2nd. Cummings is accused of fighting with a neighbor. Both parties suffered injuries in the incident.
Richard S. Ishmael, 49, of South Lyon Street, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant for alleged failure to appear. Ishmael was arraigned in Batavia City Court and jailed on $2,500 bail.
Wendy L. Henry, 29, of Central Avenue, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant. Henry was located at an address on Ellicott Street, Batavia. Henry was jailed on $150 bail.
Jeremiah P. Hackett, 27, of Taunton Place, Buffalo, is charged with DWI and failure to maintain lane. Hackett was arrested following an investigation by Officer Stephen Cronmiller reported at 2:19 a.m., Sunday. Hackett's vehicle reportedly struck a tree at 74 Oak St., Batavia.
John Sumlin III, 35, of Oak Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd, and unlicensed operator. Sumlin was stopped at 3:30 a.m. Sunday on Park Road, Batavia, by Deputy Joseph Corona. Sumlin was jailed on $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond.
Jeffrey Mark Black, 49, of North Byron Road, Elba, is charged with felony DWI, felony driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and speeding. Black was stopped at 1:20 a.m. Sunday on Byron Holley Road, Byron, by Deputy Joseph Corona.
Andrew DeMara Hewitt, 29, of Locust Drive, Hamlin, is charged with petit larceny. Hewitt was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear in Town of Byron Court. Hewitt was arraigned and released.
Edward R. Loper, 26, of Batavia, is wanted by the Sheriff's Office in connection with an alleged strangulation during a domestic incident Friday morning at 4036 W. Main Street Road, Batavia.
Numerous patrols responded to the location Friday morning, but officers were unable to locate Loper and he remains at large.
Loper is described as 5' 8" tall and 170lbs. He has shaved or very short brown hair, small tattoos on both sides of his neck and a small teardrop tattoo under his right eye.
The Department of Parole also holds a warrant for Loper for an alleged violation of parole.
Loper was released from prison in July after being sentenced in August 2012 to one-to-four years on a third-degree burglary conviction.
Anyone with information regarding Mr. Loper’s whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office at (585) 343-5000.
Batavia High School girls track team won the Section V Class B championship in a meet in Lyons on Saturday.
With 97.50 points, BHS topped Honeoye Falls-Lima at 82.50 and Wayne Central at 76 in a field with 14 teams competing.
Event winners include:
Le Roy boys won the Class CC championship, with 94 points, topping Williamson Central at 88 and Wellsville at 85.
Event winners include:
Local veterans conducted the first ever Memorial Day service today at the new Genesee County War Memorial, corner of Bank and Washington.
To purchase prints, click here.
A three-car accident is reported at 3 River St. Injuries are believed to be minor. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.
UPDATE 12:55 p.m.: Northbound traffic will be stopped at River and South Main Street.
City fire officials and National Fuel and National Grid workers are trying to unravel a mystery this morning -- what's the source of a gasoline smell emanating from the ground behind the old Genesee Bank building.
A business owner on Main Street reported the gas odor this morning. It was filling the air in that business and in the basement of 90 Main St., but not the surrounding building basements.
Meters have also detected the substance around where a new utility pole was installed last week.
One possible explanation is that decades ago -- before there would have been permits required -- there was a fuel tank in the area. The odor could be coming from residue of an old tank. But that's just speculation at this point.
UPDATE: It turns out a maintenance worker had spilled a small amount of gasoline in the area a day or two before and that caused the odor to build up in the building.
A motor-vehicle accident with minor injuries is reported in front of Town of Batavia Fire Department's Station #1, located at Park and Lewiston roads. Town fire is responding along with Mercy medics.
UPDATE 8:05 p.m.: A second ambulance has been called to the scene. The first medic is transporting a victim to UMMC.
UPDATE 8:08 p.m.: The town's assignment to Lewiston Road is back in service.
Michael Napoleone Memorial Baseball Tournament has returned to Batavia this weekend. The annual event started Friday and runs through the day. Most of the games are being played on the three fields at MacArthur Park, but there were games today at Dwyer Stadium (including a night game) and one this morning at Williams Park. Teams from throughout the region participate in the tournament.
A child is trapped in a swing at Austin Park.
No word on how he is trapped. No report of any injury.
City fire is responding and a dispatcher says, "you may need tools to disassemble the swing set."
UPDATE 6:02 p.m.: The 9-year-old child was in a toddler swing and became stuck. No tools were needed to release him.
In baseball, getting strong play from your pitcher is as important as a quarterback in football, and that was evident as Batavia topped Wayne 8-2 in the Class A quarterfinals at Dwyer Stadium.
The sixth-seeded Blue Devils got strong pitching from starter Jake Scheuerlein and reliever Greg Mruczek, while capitalizing on pitching errors from the 14th-seed Eagles.
Scheuerlein pitched four no-hit innings without allowing a run before Mruczek came in to close out the contest.
“Both pitchers threw the ball really well,” said Batavia Head Coach Rick Saunders. “I’m riding both Scheuerlein and Mruczek all the way through sectionals as long as the run goes.”
On the other side, Wayne pitcher Nate Currier struggled with his command all afternoon, as the Blue Devils got their first five runs without recording a hit.
Batavia struck first as Rich Francis scored from third on a sacrifice fly from James Fazio to take a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Then the floodgates opened in the third.
The third frame saw the Blue Devils score four runs on an error and three passed balls before Ryan Mullen singled (the team’s first hit of the game) in the final run of the inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead.
“Guys had quality at-bats to get on base,” Saunders said. “If they don’t catch the ball behind the plate, that’s a nice way to get a lead. It makes a little more relaxing as a coach. At this point in the tournament, you’ll take them any way you can get them.”
Fazio would score Batavia’s final two runs on a 2-run double in the fifth to go up 8-0.
Batavia would lose their no-hit bid on the first at-bat of the sixth, before finally scoring on an RBI single by Joe Dell’Olio.
Despite giving up two runs on two hits in three innings of work, Mruczek pitched a strong game as he struck out five batters, showing that the Blue Devils have a strong one-two punch on the mound.
“I like it because it puts a lot of pressure on a high school guy to go seven innings,” Saunders said. “Especially this year with the weather being so bad, it’s hard to stretch guys out. This way I can keep them both fresh the whole way, you roll the dice and take a shot.”
The Blue Devils were led by Fazio, who finished 1-for-2 with three RBIs, while Francis and Zeke Lynn added two runs each.
Batavia (13-5) will next face second-seeded Brighton on Tuesday.
Currier pitched five innings, allowing eight runs on four hits, while striking out four batters for Wayne (7-13).
Daniel Placek seemed to have everything going for him. After graduating from Niagara Falls High School, he joined the Navy, served in Japan and came home, taking a job as a plumber five days after his discharge. By age 23, he owned his own home.
As the only child of Dan and Cheryl Placek, he was given every middle-class advantage in life. He was involved in sports, made lots of friends, worked hard, and he could always count on his parents when he needed help.
What they couldn't help him with, though, despite their best efforts, was drug addiction.
Five years into his career as a plumber, Daniel hurt his back. His doctor prescribed opiate-based pain medication.
"We could see a change in him over the last year of his life," Cheryl said. "We didn't know what it was. He was anxious. We couldn't figure it out. His friends were concerned. His employer called me a few months before he died and said what's up with Dan and we didn't know either."
Finally, Daniel confessed to his parents. He couldn't stop taking the pain medication he was prescribed.
Cheryl went with him to see his doctor. The doctor's solution: prescribe suboxone.
Suboxone is an opiate-based narcotic. It's often used to treat heroin addicts and others addicted to opiate-based pain medications, but suboxone is itself habit forming.
"Within days of withdrawing, Daniel became paranoid," Cheryl said. "He was talking about not wanting to live. We took him to ECMC, but we couldn't get a bed. We were there for 17 hours on Christmas Day in 2011."
Finally, they were referred to Lakeshore Hospital and Lakeshore agreed to admit him for seven days. On the fifth day, he was released to an outpatient clinic.
"They said he wasn't talking about taking his life so he was OK," Cheryl said. "It's like they were only listening to what he was saying and not what we were telling them, and here's my son who wasn't thinking straight."
They family tried getting Daniel into another program and hit roadblock after roadblock.
"He said, 'mom, don't you see, people don't want to help me anyway.' "
Against their original doctor's advice, Cheryl finally called the VA and begged the VA to take Daniel as a drug-treatment patient. It took two weeks, but the VA finally admitted Daniel to an inpatient program.
"He went in with full family support," Cheryl said. "We were there, his best friend was there, his girlfriend was there. That night at 1:15, the nurse called me and said, 'your son's passed away.' I asked her what happened. She was reluctant to tell me, but finally she told me. He took is own life."
The story of Daniel Placek is not very different from a half-dozen other stories that came out this morning during a two-hour State Senate Hearing at Batavia City Hall on the state's growing opiate-based drug problems.
When Cheryl Placek spoke, she held the picture of her son, pointed to him, and said, "This is the face of addiction."
She wasn't the first mother Friday to use that phrase during the hearing, and the faces being pointed to weren't burned-out crank heads living in the squalor of urban blight, but healthy, well-scrubbed faces of young men and women who grew up in rural communities, went to good schools, got good grades, came from strong nuclear families.
"In 2001, the Sisters Hospital wanted to open a methadone clinic here so we took a look at our opiate addictions and we had three active patients," said John Bennett, director of GCASA. "Roll the clock ahead, we now have 175 active admissions at any given time. We've treated 483 people since 2008 for opiate addiction. None of them look like, for lack of a better term, the traditional junkie.
"It used to be nobody wanted to be a junkie, that was leper of the addicts," Bennett added. "You roll the clock ahead and it's young kids using opiates and heroin."
The hearing was led by State Senator Phil Boyle, chairman of the Senate Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, and State Senator Michael Ranzenhofer, who arranged for the hearing in Batavia. On the panel where members of the local criminal justice community as well as leaders in drug-treatment programs. In the audience were those who deal with drug addicts, their parents and a few recovering addicts themselves.
The themes heard in Placek's story were repeated by both the professionals, those who have been through treatment, and the parents of addicts.
It was the same story for Mary Flippi, a mother of five. Two of her sons are addicts.
For one son, his first experience with drugs was at age 11. A friend introduced him to marijuana. She said by the time he was 15, he was addicted to heroin. By the time he was 22, he had overdosed three times.
To get him into rehab one time, she called every facility in Western New York she could find. Then she drove around Pennsylvania trying to find a facility to admit him. Finally, he found treatment for her boy in Louisiana.
"He was there for seven months, but within the first hour of him leaving, he relapsed," Flippi said. "He was at the airport waiting for his plane and the anxiety got to him. He went to the bar and spent the $10 they had given him for the trip home."
Flippi observed, "drugs are not the problem for the addict. Reality is the problem for the addict."
As he continued down the path of renewed drug use, Flippi again tried to find a treatment facility that would take him.
Eventually, she became so desperate that after he stole a dirt bike from his own family, she had him arrested just so he could go to jail while she continued to work on getting him into treatment.
Later, Boyle would recall this statement and remark, "It's a story we've heard repeatedly around the state. A parent is put in a position where she must have her child arrested to get him into treatment. That is a system that truly needs reform and that's what we're doing here."
After jail, Flippi's son was placed in a 28-day treatment program, but within a week of his release, he was drinking again. Four days ago, he tested positive for heroin and cocaine.
"I'm at my wit's end," Flippi said. "I don't know where to go from here, because there is no place. There are placed to go, but they are no help. Twenty-eight days doesn't work, and just to get to 28 days, you have to fail in outpatient first before you even get 28 days."
Sheriff Gary Maha said heroin and opiate use is a significant and growing problem in Genesee County.
Most of the drugs sold here come out of Rochester.
Heroin is a growing problem because it's cheaper than pain pills. He said he's heard of people selling their pills for $25 and more per pill so they could buy heroin at $10 to $20 a bag.
"A few years ago, heroin was unheard of in Genesee County," Maha said. "Now it's very prevalent and very available. Half the buys by our Local Drug Task Force now involve heroin."
After the meeting, Maha said he thought it was an important discussion.
"What I heard today was very enlightening, even for me as somebody who has been in the business a long time," Maha said. "When you hear from the families of the addicted persons, even the recovering addicts, it kind of opens your eyes. We look sometimes strictly from a law enforcement perspective, not even thinking about the treatment and the education parts, but it's going to take a concerted effort by everybody to fight this thing. It's a difficult and complex issue."
Where heroin used to the drug of last resort for the most addicted junkies, said Bennett, it's now part of the potential mix for first time and novice drug users.
Teens use heroin, but more commonly, they raid grandma's medicine cabinet and swipe her pain pills.
"They're getting together on Friday nights and they think they're just having fun, but what we know about opiates is, if you use them for two or three weeks -- and some of these kids are popping them every day thinking that's just what grandma is taking -- that when they try to stop, they find they are getting sick, so they start taking pills before going to school just so they don't get sick."
Augusta Welsh, director of community services, Genesee County Mental Health Services, said she's a big fan of drug take-back days hosted by local police agencies.
"One thing we see kids doing is they will take anything and everything just to try it," Welsh said. "They call it fishing They will put all of the pills they got from their grandmothers' and put them in a bowl and say, 'look at all the pretty colors,' then they'll pull something out. If they take it with alcohol, then it delivers the effect much quicker."
With the rise of heroin and opiate-based drugs in Genesee County, UMMC's emergency room has been much busier, said Mary Beth Bowen, chief nursing officer.
She said in 2013, ER admitted 62 overdose patients. There have been 130 so far this year. Now that number includes all brands of ODs, including alcohol, but the underlying root cause is heroin and pain medications, she said.
What UMMC is also starting to see is more use of e-cigarettes as a drug delivery method, and several panelists and audience members expressed concern about e-cigs as a kind of gateway into drug use or tobacco cigarettes.
Audience member Nicholas Burk, a resource officer at Batavia High School, said he one time he witnessed a BHS student beg her mother for an e-cigarette. This was a girl, he said, who was a athlete-scholar, a straight-A student who never received a referral in her life.
All of her friends had e-cigs, she said, so she wanted to be part of the crowd.
"She thinks it's OK," he said.
There was a lot of back and forth about whether marijuana is a gateway drug. Some in the audience are convinced it is.
Rose Mary Christian expressed shock and dismay that the Legislature would even consider medical marijuana. Ranzenhofer said it's a complex issue. It's hard to turn down a parent who says marijuana is the only drug that will stop her child's seizures and prevent almost certain death.
Boyle said there's a lot of discussion in Albany about medical marijuana, but he promised that recreational marijuana will never be legal in New York.
Dr. Bruce Baker, medical director for GCASA, said the data doesn't support the notion of marijuana as a gateway drug, but it does lower inhibitions and many young people have been introduced to harder drugs just because marijuana brought them into closer contact with people already using harder drugs.
Two recovering addicts also spoke. One was a woman currently living in Batavia who said she got into prostitution to support her drug habit and has seen other young women fall into the same trap. She wants to warn young women away from drugs for that reason. She was among the speakers who complained about how difficult it is to get into drug treatment.
One speaker challenged the panel to look at the people in the room talking about addiction and how it affected their lives personally. It was largely a white, rural and middle-class audience.
"This is the face of addiction," She said. "We are very typical people and I hope we can give it a voice and get more help in our community because it's here and it's big."
Boyle said the message was heard loud and clear, and with modern technology being what it is today, changes are already in the works.
"As we've been talking, I've been texting with my staff in Albany about what some of you have been saying," Boyle said. "They've already done the research and sent back some draft legislation that we could introduce as soon as next week to address some of the concerns raised here."
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