batavia

Batavia Police Detective Todd Crossett has been honored by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for his efforts to identify and arrest a suspected online predator.

Crossett was nominated for the award by FBI special agent Matthew Braverman. Crossett and Braverman worked together on the Dalton Wilke case.

Wilke allegedly made contact with a person he thought was a juvenile male and agreed to meet the youngster in Batavia for sex. Crossett posed online as the young male.

Wilke was arrested in Batavia with the assistance of the Buffalo FBI, LeRoy Police Department and members of the Batavia Police patrol unit.

Statement from the press release:

Competition for the National Awards given by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Center is always high. Detective Crossett was given the award for his unwavering commitment, determination and expertise in ensuring a safer world for our youth and children    

Here's a video interview with Det. Crossett that Philip Anselmo shot last May.

Fire units were dispatched to 33 Ross St. for a reported fire in the basement of a residence.

When firefighters arrived, they found an overheated boiler, but no fire.

Ken Mistler gave me a deluxe tour this morning of the gym at the corner of Jackson and Main he hopes to open in about six weeks.

The picture above is of a staircase that will lead to the lower level work out area and men's locker room. Mistler said a previous tenant built the staircase, but when the city would not let the business put an entrance to the building on Jackson, the staircase was floored over.

I copied the photo off the Facebook page Ken set up for Next Level.

Mistler seems to be putting forth the effort to create a first-class gym. The building is being completely renovated with new electrical (an upgrade required by new building codes implemented since the building's 1967 construction), new heating and cooling and such attention to detail as ceiling lights that defuse light so that people laying on a bench lifting weights won't have a bright light shining in their eyes.

There will also be a full sevice coffee bar accessible from Main Street.

The four-level building will also eventually serve as Mistler's home. He's building a residence on the fourth floor.

When I saw how much work is left to be done, I expressed surprise that it would take only six more weeks of work to get the facility open, but Mislter said the hard work is done (he did much of the jack-hammering in the cement floors himself to improve drainage (did you know there is an artesian well under that part of downtown?) and lay in new plumbing in the basement).

Previously, Ken told me a number of membership have already been sold -- and who can argue with the price? People can join for as little as $20 per month.

Mistler's gym looks like it's going to be a great addition to downtown, helping to bring a lot more people into the center of the city on a regular basis.

Today's Deal of the Day: A $25 gift certificate from Main St. Pizza Company in Batavia. The Batavian's Good Deal Price: $12.50 -- HALF off!

I've become a fan of Main St. Pizza not just because it's convienently located to our office, but because everything I've tried from Main Street has been outstanding. Main Street Pizza is more than just pizza.

The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value.

Rules: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

SOLD

There probably aren't too many people around who remember the players from the 1948 Batavia Clippers, but one of those men popped up in the news this week.

Joe Macko, a 6' 2", 200 lbs first baseman spent his first year of professional ball in Batavia. He smacked 11 home runs, hit .315 and also served as the team's bus driver.

Those 11 home runs would be the first of 306 he would hit in his 18-season minor league career. 

Alas, Macko never mastered hitting a curve ball, and thus never saw a single pitch in a major league ball game.

Macko was a coach with the Chicago Cubs in 1964. His son, Steve Macko, played 24 games with the Cubs before dying of cancer at age 27.

Macko, 81, who recently served as an ambassador for the Texas Rangers, was inducted this week into the Texas League Hall of Fame.

Robert C. Synder, 48, of Batavia, allegedly pulled a woman from a chair and began dragging her across the floor by her hair Friday night. He is charged with harassment in the second degree. He is held on $1,500.

Daniel K. Norton, 22, of Batavia, was arrested early Sunday morning on a DWI charge following a traffic stop Lear Road. He is accused of having a BAC of .08 or more.

William E. Schneider, 23, of Bergen, is charged with a felony count of DWI. Schneider is also accused of driving 75 m.p.h. in a 55 m.p.h. zone. He was stopped on Route 33 in the Town of Stafford.

O.V. Murphy, 50, of Batavia, was charged with felony DWI on Sunday evening. Murphy was reportedly stopped on Route 5 in the Town of Batavia. He is accused of operating a motor vehicle while drinking and having a BAC of .18 or greater.

A tipster told me the other day -- you should go over to Mill Street, by the GCEDC and see what's going on.  She mentioned trains.

With all this talk of a possible new Albany-Buffalo passenger rail, trains were a bit on my mind. And up until this point, it had been a slow news day.

At this point, I knew there used to be a roundhouse or train turntable in Batavia, but I frankly didn't know where it was. And I had forgotten that New York Central System Historical Society was going to be in town today for an open house at the facility.

When I arrived at the Genesee Valley Transportation Co. complex on Mill Street, sure enough, there was a big piece of equipment digging a big hole.

Doug Eisele, director of operations for GVTC told me later his company is building a new train-to-truck warehouse. When completed it will employ 10 people.

As I walked to a big brick building, I began to suspect that this was part of an old roundhouse and that there was a tour going on. There were several men milling about and a few were snapping pictures.

It turns out, it was indeed the historical society, and by the time I got inside they were watching a video about the old train station.

After Doug finished showing me around the facility, explaining the history and showing me some pictures, he suggested I head over to Lehigh Avenue and take a look at the old New York Central train station, which is owned by CSX (and it's next to CSX track, which might the the route of the proposed new rail system, so if Batavia turns out to be a stop, might be the location of a future train station?).

A man in the neighborhood told me is the old train station (and hardly suitable to be a modern train station).

Across the street I found this old train rail sticking out of cement and a pile of track ties, which struck me as interesting subjects for pictures, so here you go:

Even though the New York Yankees couldn't get a victory to open up their new stadium Thursday, it was still a pretty big day for 1995 Notre Dame graduate Dave Pero.

Many of the former greats made an appearance, the weather was great for baseball and the local man made history.

 Pero - a high school teacher in Syracuse - was the first guy to ask his girlfriend to become his fiance at the new Yankee Stadium when he proposed to Heather DeCarolos.

"There's nothing better than to kick off this opening day and this stadium by making a commitment to my future wife," Pero told the New York Daily News.

Pero, 31, got down on one knee and popped the question while The Skycoasters - a band out of Rochester - was playing the Earth, Wind and Fire song "September" nearby. DeCarolos said yes.

"I'm stunned," DeCarolos, 23, told the Daily News. "I'm on top of the world. I can't think of a better place for this to happen."

Fire crews are responding to a field fire at 2893 West Main Road, between Hopkins and Powers.

The nearby house is not threatened, according to reports.

A man from Hermitage, Penn., driving a 1996 Ford sedan reportedly didn't see a car ahead of him northbound on Route 63 and hit a utility poll after swerving to avoid rear-ending the lead car.

David M. Doxtater, 56, suffered minor cuts on his face, according to a police report.

The accident occurred at 10:05 a.m. at Route 63 and Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road.

National Grid was called to the scene to deal with the damaged utility poll.

The other vehicle, and no other vehicles were involved.

Deputy C.A. Parker investigated the accident.

A driver pulling out of a parking lot at 189 Pearl St. reportedly failed to yield the right of way and collided with an Alden man driving a 2008 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Injured was Patrick G. Schwab, 42. He reportedly suffered a serious leg injury and was transported by ambulance to an area hospital. No further information on his injury is available.

The driver of the car, Lynn E. Sanders, 38, of Batavia, was cited.

The accident occurred at 3:24 p.m.

This is a follow up from a post we did yesterday.

Today's Deal of the Day: A $50 gift certificate from Larry's Steakhouse in Batavia. The Batavian's Good Deal Price: $25 -- HALF off!

Larry's, located at 60 Main St. in Batavia, is one of the newer and finer dining establishments in Batavia. The menu offers many great items, but of course the speciality is steak.  Larry's also features a full bar.

The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value.

Rules: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate. 

If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.

Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.

SOLD.  Next Monday, look for a gift certificate from our newest sponsor, Main Street Pizza.

Andrew V. Mohawk, 20, of Batavia, is accused of going onto another person's property on Clinton Street Road and damaging a series of walkway lights. The alleged incident occurred yesterday morning about 1:45 a.m. Mohawk is charged with criminal mischief in the fourth degree and trespass.

Denis N. Pirincci, 21, of Batavia, was arrested early this morning following a complaint of an erratic driver on Oak Street. Pirincci is charged with DWI with a BAC of .08 or higher, and possession of alcohol in a vehicle.

Derek G. Thomas, 32, of Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt in the first degree and harassment in the second degree following an alleged physical altercation with a person he had been ordered to not contact. The alleged incident took place yesterday evening around 7:30 p.m. on South Main Street. Thomas is in jail in lieu of $2,500 bail.

What a beautiful spring evening it was for Care-A-Van to be out! The newness and freshness of spring was in the air at our local college GCC as we pulled in. The basketball court was busy and in full swing with a game going on. Students were busy milling around enjoying the evening.

We got busy knocking on the doors- I believe 94 in total. The music was blaring and I swear the whole building was shaking as we knocked on the one door. A young man opened the door and stood there with a couple of his friends. They knew us and were happy to see us. We asked them how they were doing and if they needed prayer. He stated well we do have something going on that maybe you can help with. We are having an argument about something they said I did and that I was wrong about. We just can’t settle it. Can you help? Well, we knew that we could not settle it, but we knew with a little prayer that someone bigger than us could settle the dispute. We offered to pray with them.

Paul, Dave and I gathered around with the 6 students held hands and prayed. In the prayer Paul prayed that God would bring peace over the room and that the situation at hand would be settled. As the prayer ended, another student came out of the bathroom and said Amen! The young man said “well now what do we do”? Our reply was wait, don’t argue, and let God settle it. They seemed to be a bit stunned, but said ok.  You see there is someone who knows all and sees all. All of the arguments, all the dissention, the Lord knows exactly what is going on and who is at fault.  If we seek and pray, answers will be shown. 

Just like at another room, someone refused the brochure about the ministry, the cookies and the message booklet. One has to wonder in this type of situation, exactly what is going on inside of this person. Who or what is at fault that this person is hurting so much that they refuse any type of assistance? Now please understand, we know that there are folks including college students have their own beliefs and values. We respect that. However we also know behind those doors, are some very lost hurting souls.

One young gal was from Canada and her home is 30 hours from here. She was so thankful that we stopped by to give a little cheer. Another young gal, said “so you got those church cookies for us”? We like those cookies; we even crunch them up and put them in cakes. She even gave us a bag of donated clothing for the ministry. Here admist all of her trying times in college, she took time to give back to others. How awesome is that!

On May 9th, Care-A-Van will be holding their annual college cookout at GCC. The fun will begin at 4:00 PM. There will be hotdogs, hamburgs and all the fixings to go with them. There will also be music provided. It will be held in the parking lot of the dorms.

If you are interested in coming out and helping we would love to have you join us. This is the end of the year bash for them. Each month from September through May, Care-A-Van makes a monthly visit to the college dorms. We have built wonderful trusting friendships with the students. We go forth and let them know that we care, but most importantly that the Lord cares about them and their well being while they are students here in our local community.

Thank you to all of you who partner with us to take forth the light into the darkness of the college campus and all other areas of the city. As the bus headed back home down Main Street, we looked ahead and there right in front of us in the bluish, black sky was a huge orange cross! Our Lord is an awesome God!  Seeing that cross, gave this writer such an inner feeling of peace.  May you all have a very peace filled day!

We can be reached at 585-343-0328 if you are interested in volunteering or know of someone in need.

Funds earmarked for the GCEDC to develop an agri-park off Route 5 in the Town of Batavia has finally been released and construction could resume within weeks, according to Chad Zambito.

Immediately, GCEDC is getting $2 million from Empire State Development and another $1 million is expected to come from the DOT.  The phase 1-funding will be used for building infrastructure for the park -- roads, sewer, water, gas and electricity.

“To some extent it’s old news because it was announced, but it is a huge relief because we didn’t know where we stood with the state under its current situation," said Zambito.

The funds were originally committed to the project by former Governor Elliott Spitzer and in anticipation of securing the money, some construction work has already begun. Zambito said the GCEDC hopes to complete phase 1 by the end of the year.

A Canadian firm is hoping to open a $15 million processing plant, employing 100 people, Zambito, pending securing its own financing.

Last year, CCEDC staff told the Batavia City Council the Agri-Park, when fully built out, could be worth $1.5 billion in economic growth Genesee County. 

Phase 1 development covers about 200 acres, while the park could eventually cover 300 acres.