batavia

Press release:

During these unprecedented times all Tops Friendly Markets locations are raising a cup of kindness as a way to say thank you to essential workers at all of its 162 locations in New York, Vermont and Pennsylvania.

From now until June 13, Tops is offering all essential workers a 50-percent discount on any single-serve coffee or handcrafted beverage at any of its locations.

“We can’t thank these dedicated men and women enough for their tireless efforts,” said Karri Zwirlein, director of bakery, deli, & prepared foods for Tops Friendly Markets. “Raising a cup of kindness is just our small token of appreciation for all they are doing each and every day to keep our communities safe.”

The discount is being given in good faith (no I.D. required) and is applicable to all first responders, healthcare workers, frontline personnel, and essential workers.

A crowd is reportedly gathered at Jackson and Watson streets in the city and they are allegedly drinking alcohol. City police are responding.

Submitted photos and press release:

It may be a bit early to tiptoe through the tulips but visitors to the Batavia Peace Garden will be delighted to find rows of hyacinth and daffodils in full bloom there. 

As Genesee County residents are sequestered indoors for days on end due to the coronvirus pandemic, it is refreshing to know that passersby can enjoy a burst of color at the Batavia Peace Garden.

With the help of dozens of volunteers, the bulbs were planted last fall. The majority of plants were provided complements of Delre's Greenhouse & Garden Center in Batavia, according to Batavia Peace Garden Director Barb Toal.

"It's nice to know that so many people can enjoy the serenity and beauty of this garden during a time when the whole world is on edge," Toal said. "That’s precisely what the Peace Garden was created for.

"Whether you pass by in your car or take a stroll through the garden with your family, you can’t help but feel good about the colorful blooms and the sweet scent of the hyacinths. But if you do decide to take a walk be sure to practice distance guidelines. At the Peace Garden, all are welcome.”  

The Peace Garden enjoys a variety of blooms annually spring through fall. The season for tulips approaches in mid-May. That is followed by Black-eyed Susan’s, yellow roses, daises, hydrangea and much more.

Volunteers are always needed to help with more planting and garden maintenance.

For information on how you can participate, visit the Batavia Peace Garden online here or contact the International Peace Garden Foundation here.

Clayton R. Baylor, 23, of Batavia (no address provided), is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. He was arrested after a traffic stop on Route 19 in the Town of Middlebury April 11. Baylor was driving a vehicle which had fled the scene of an attempted burglary in the Village of Warsaw. Wyoming County Sheriff's Deputies stopped it and allegedly found Baylor in possession of a "blackjack" weapon. He also allegedly performed poorly on field sobriety testing. Baylor was processed at the Wyoming County Sheriff's Office, then turned over to the Warsaw Police Department.

Mark Allen Knickerbocker, 22, West Main Street, Byron, is charged with petit larceny. At 6:48 p.m. on April 15, Knickerbocker was arrested at the Crosby's gas station and convenience store on Clinton Street Road in Batavia. It is alleged that he stole a box of candy valued at $48. He was released on an appearance ticket and is due in Batavia Town Court on June 11. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Chad Cummings.

This is "Keko" the cat who escaped from a reader's home on Williams Street in the city yesterday (April 14) to embark on a caper. (May we presume a wild springtime jaunt?)

So an All Points Bulletin is hereby issued for readers of The Batavian to be on the scout for this brown and black brindle-coated scamp.

Keko shares the moniker with two Spanish soccer players and a Guyanan rapper. The letters of the name are also the call letters of 101.7 FM, a Spanish Christian radio station serving the Corpus Christi, Texas area.

And Keko is the name of an administrative ward in the Temeke district of Dar es-Salaam region of Tanzania.

Just sayin'...

If you spot this pet, please call (585) 813-7315 with information.

Staff at Wendy's on Main Street in Batavia called 9-1-1 to report verbal abuse by a female driver at the drive-thru. They said she yelled at the workers. City police are responding.

Press release:

Beginning this week, Tops will be rolling out additional safety measures at all of its 162 stores in New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. Those safety measures include providing all of its associates with American made cloth face masks to ensure their associates health and well-being while serving the community as essential workers.

This safety measure is in addition to the 5,000 face shields already distributed to its workforce. These masks have been ordered from multiple providers in order to ensure that the quantities needed are available.  

The masks that Tops is providing to their associates are American made, which was important to Tops as a company. An added bonus was that some masks were even made locally in Buffalo, where Tops is headquartered.

Tops is confident that the masks will be distributed to all associates by the end of this week. In the meantime disposable masks will be available. 

“There is nothing more important to Tops than the health and safety of our associates, customers, vendors, and their respective families,” said Chairman and CEO Frank Curci. “We have been laser-focused on COVID-19 since it became clear that the United States was going to be greatly impacted by this pandemic and can assure the public that we are implementing the safety and sanitation protocols that are being recommended by the experts available to us.

"As this crisis has unfolded, I know that our protocols have evolved to stay abreast of the latest medical and scientific advice coming from these health experts and Tops can pledge to you that we are fully engaged on this task for the sake of all involved.”   

Tops is also 90-percent complete with the installation of plexiglas on both sides of its registers as of today, and is complete with the installation of Plexiglas at all of its customer service desks, pharmacy, and fuel stations. In total the company will have installed nearly 1,000 plexiglas safety shields by close of business on Wednesday, April 15.

Additional safety measures rolled out at all stores include providing gloves for their associates, hand sanitizer and wipes for their associates and customers respectively, and the newly instituted Comfort Zone areas at the registers, pharmacy, and deli areas, which provides more social distancing between customers as well as the customer and Tops associate.

Further, an associate is assigned at each store specifically in charge of sanitization of the front end registers, check stands, conveyor belts, customer service desks, point of sale devices, restrooms,and other frequently touched surfaces most accessed by customers on a continual basis during operating hours.

Jordin Michael Schultz, 22, of Main Road, Stafford, is charged with third-degree menacing and reckless endangerment in the second degree. It is alleged that Schultz spit at a nurse and public health official at 5:39 p.m. April 2 at a location in the 6200 block of Main Road in Stafford. The defendant is due to appear in Stafford Town Court at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 9. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Brock Cummins, assisted by Kyle Krzemien.

Ronald M. Refermat, 35, of Broadway Road, Darien, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. At 11:30 a.m. on April 11, Genesee County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a residence on Route 20 in Darien for a reported domestic incident. An investigation allegedly reveal that the defendant endangered the welfare of a child. He was arraigned in Batavia City Court and released. The case was handled by Deputy Kevin McCarthy.

Luis J. Santiago, 31, of Buell Street, Batavia, is charged with second-degree criminal contempt. The arrested follows an investigation of a domestic incident that occurred on Edward Street in the City of Batavia at 2:49 p.m. on March 28. Santiago was released on an appearance ticket and is due in Batavia City Court on May 19. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Sean Wilson, assisted by Officer Jordan McGinnis.

Batavia PD is asking the public's assistance in locating Devon Wright, a person of interest in a car vs. pedestrian collision on Highland Park on Wednesday night.

The department has previously said this is being treated as a criminal investigation.

Anyone with information in reference to his whereabouts may contact Detective Matt Wojtaszczyk at 585-345-6357 or the Batavia Police Department at 585-345-6350, the confidential tip line at 585-345-6370.

Previously: Pedestrian reportedly hit by car on Highland Park

We don't normally share things like this, not having a Letters to the Editor section, but this was nice to highlight on an Easter Sunday during the coronavirus:

To the girls at the Batavia Dunkin’ Donuts. thank you for the free coffees for the nurses and healthcare workers. I got my two coffees free from the Batavia Dunkin because I am a nurse and a healthcare worker. You guys made my day being open and made me tear up for the thank yous!!!!

I wanted to let everyone know how awesome they made me feel for being a nurse in this COVID-19 time!

Larissa Miller, an LPN at the New York State Veterans Home.

Photo and cutline submitted by Randy McIntire.

Margaret Worthington's family wanted to wish her a Happy Easter on Sunday. Margaret is a resident at Premier Genesee Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.

They were able to put their wish in chalk while she looked on from her window, while under protective quarantine.  They spoke on the phone where she expressed her thanks and her love for her family.  

As time went on, more and more residents began waving and before we were finished we were wishing a Happy Easter to many onlookers.  

From left are Lisa, Mackenzie and Chris Lavrey, Amy, Kayla, Derek and Randy McIntire, Jeff McIntire and Cindy Reynolds, Randy and Colleen McIntire.

Video: Easter message from Rev. Dr. Roula Alkhouri, Batavia First Presbyterian Church

The American Legion marquee sign outside the Legion Hall on Alexander Road, Batavia.

Arielle McVay donned a bunny suit today, and accompanied by Tonya Philips, tried to bring a little joy to Batavia residents this afternoon, walking most of the length of Main Street as the Easter Bunny, waving at cars as they drove by, with many drivers answering with a friendly honk.

An additional three detainees at the Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia have tested positive for COVID-19.

That brings the number of detainees who have tested positive at the facility to seven.

The Batavian reported on the first four cases on Friday. In the original story, we said detainees who tested positive were not included in the countywide count based on information obtained from the Health Department. The Health Department has since corrected that previous statement and said detainees, as well as COVID patients at other federal and state facilities in the county, are included in the county's numbers.

As of this morning, the County is reporting 70 positive cases locally, and 49 active cases, 20 recoveries, and one death. It's not known at this time if the three new ICE cases are yet included in the county's count.

We've requested from an ICE spokesman more information about the three new cases.

So far, ICE has not reported any employees at the facility as positive.

UPDATE 12:46 p.m.:  More information from ICE:

• Two 21-year-old Salvadorian nationals, and a 35-year-old Dominican national in ICE custody at Buffalo Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York, tested positive for COVID-19.

Consistent with CDC guidelines, those who have come in contact with these individuals have been cohorted and are being monitored for symptoms.

Employees, and their family members, of O-AT-KA Milk Products have been expressing concern this week about how the company has responded to the outbreak of COVID-19 in our community.

In emails to The Batavian and in social media posts, both employees and family members have accused the company of making employees work even though they might have been exposed to a person who tested positive for the coronavirus.

In the past week, Genesee County has gone from 17 confirmed cases to 70 people who have tested positive for COVID-19. In that same period, surrounding rural counties have not seen a similar spike.

It's unclear how much of the more than 400-percent increase in positive cases are connected with O-AT-KA but sources have indicated as many as 20 people who work at the facility have tested positive.

O-AT-KA CEO William Schreiber declined today to answer a question about how many employees have been infected.

At the beginning of the week, the Health Department reported the first sharp increase in cases -- 10 new cases -- and the department press release said many of the cases, including a big jump in mandatory quarantines, could be attributed to one employee going to work while symptomatic.

At that time, Public Health Director Paul Pettit said, "A significant increase in the number of mandatory quarantines being reported today is due to a symptomatic person going to work at a local business."

Pettit declined to name the company then nor discuss now specific complaints from employees about O-AT-KA.

Since Monday, the Health Department has indicated that several of the people who were on mandatory quarantine as of Monday have since tested positive.

Two sources said there were two confirmed COVID-19 cases at O-AT-KA on Monday.

The specific complaints sent to The Batavian about O-AT-KA:

• Employees with direct contact with infected coworkers have been told to report to work until they develop a fever;
• Employees with a fever are required to produce a doctor's note for an approved absence from work;
• Employees are told to wear masks but masks are not issued to employees;
• Employees are encouraged to remain six feet apart but some job duties, such as training new coworkers, make that impossible.

One of the features of the virus SARS-CoV-2 is that people can be infectious before becoming symptomatic, and perhaps remain asymptomatic, and a fever is not necessarily the first symptom of illness.

During a phone call today, we asked Schreiber repeatedly to respond to these specific allegations and he declined.

He did read a prepared statement:

We have taken every precaution to protect our employees. We have followed the guidelines of every regulatory agency involved since the start of the pandemic and most importantly, as part of our response, our leadership team has worked to ensure our employees are safe and that they have the tools and resources needed to be successful.

O-AT-KA is not the only local company under scrutiny from employees. The Batavian has received emails about two other local employers, deemed essential businesses by the State of New York, that say their bosses are not taking coronavirus precautions seriously. 

One employee, who said the employees' complaints have gone to the Attorney General's Office, was specific about lack of sanitizer, personal protection gear, and inattention to social distancing.

The employee said, "With the number of people that come to work at this plant from outside counties and cities, it is only a matter of time before someone infected comes to work and it will spread like wildfire. We should be closed right now. We should be home, safe with our families until our government deems it that we are safe to go back to work."

Interview with Superintendent Anibal Soler Jr. about City Schools' budget.