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Council's auction vote got the attention of landlords, but not necessarily in a good way

By Howard B. Owens

A number of local landlords are deeply concerned over the Batavia City Council's decision a week ago to deny Michael Pullinzi the chance to buy a piece of property he won at city auction.

The 5-4 vote punctuates a growing frustration with the code-inspection process, which they say puts an unfair burden on the landlords without holding tenants accountable.

Jeremy Yasses (pictured), an Oakfield resident who owns eight properties in the city, as well as several other tenant-occupied buildings outside of Batavia, describes himself as a budding entrepreneur who is trying to build a real estate business.

The 13 citations mentioned by the council against Pullinzi as the reason for denying him the chance to purchase 9 Willow St., is piddling compared to other landlords, according to Yasses. Other landlords, both on and off the record, say much the same thing.

Yasses, for his part, readily admits to getting between 40 and 50 citations a year from city inspectors.

Almost all of them, if not all of them, are for things tenants have done.

And that's the problem, according to Yasses. Tenants are not held accountable, so there's no motivation for them to change. If a tenant puts his garbage out on Wednesday, Yasses gets a notice, so he goes and picks it up on Thursday to correct the violation. Then the same thing happens the next week, and the next.

"Did we get to the root of the problem?" Yasses asks.

"I own the property. I’m held accountable," said Yasses. "I’m not passing the buck, but have the tenant standing right there next to me (in court). That’s how you hold them accountable."

Terry Platt, who operates one of the largest residential rental businesses in the city, said he's no stranger to receiving violation notices for things tenants have done, and he's concerned, also, that the current system isn't really helping to address the problem.

"There's no tenant responsibility," said Platt, who also serves on the city's Neighborhood Improvement Committee (NIC). "We can kick them out, but if they move out, they just move to someplace else in the city and do the same thing over again. How is the city going to clean up the city if there is no tenant accountability?"

(Point of disclosure: Platt is my landlord.)

From the city's perspective, the only option is to hold the landlords accountable. They're the ones who own the property and the only recourse for the city is to cite property owners for any problems outside a house or apartment.

City Council President Marianne Clattenburg said residents want to live in a cleaner city and the citations landlords receive is, at least in part, just the cost of doing business.

"We really don't have a lot of recourse as far as the tenant goes," Clattenburg said. "The only person responsible is the property owner. That's just the way the system is."

Clattenburg is no stranger to getting cited for violations she didn't cause. Two years ago, then-City Inspector Mike Smith wrote her up because her garbage can was next to her house, rather than behind it. The notice came, said Clattenburg, on a day the staff was conducting a citywide sweep on code enforcement. Her trash had been picked up that morning and she was at work, when her father-in-law, who lives next door and has health problems, moved her trash can from the street just to help out.

Still, Clattenburg, a school teacher, thinks landlords need to do a better job of policing the conduct of their tenants, perhaps offering incentives, such as rent breaks, for not getting citations.

"The landlords are in business," Clattenburg said. "If it wasn't a business, if they weren't making money, they wouldn't be doing it. Every business has obstacles and faces difficulties. That's just part of owning your own business. You figure out ways to deal with that."

Yes, it is a business, landlords will tell you, and because it is a business, solutions don't come as easily as city officials seem to think they should.

As we spoke while standing in the front room/kitchen of a house the 33-year-old Yasses is rehabilitating on Thorpe, Yasses said the best he could hope for from that piece of property was $250 per month net profit. That's after mortgage, flood insurance and taxes are paid, and only if the tenant paid the water bill and pays rent on time and there was no maintenance on the 100-year-old building.

“That’s not a lot, especially when you look at the fact that I’ve got four vacancies and I just spent five grand here," Yasses said. "If you take all that into account, that’s two years income all right here in one house.”

Meanwhile, he's grappling with the city over a tenant's car that has no license plate. The tenant, Yasses said, is a essentially a single mom (her husband doesn't work) who works part-time at a fast-food place. She can only use her mobile phone for text messages because all she can afford is a $10-per-month plan. She couldn't afford insurance on her car, so she had to remove the license plates. The city cited Yasses and said it needed to be covered with a tarp.

"So I hounded her, 'put a tarp on it, put a tarp on it' because Ron (Panek, city inspector) hounded me, 'put a tarp on it,'" said Yasses. "She went and bought a blue tarp, covered it. It’s not good enough. You need to have a tarp that’s fitted to the car. I didn’t even know that. So Ron goes, 'we’re going to have to go to court then.' I said, ‘fine. We’ll go to court.’

"Now wait a minute," Yasses added. "We paid a guy to make three visits and make two phone calls, and now we’re going to pay the city attorney to take me to court for a tenant’s car? And we’re hurting for money in the city? Maybe we need to tighten up our belts and our shoelaces a little bit and figure out what’s going on. That’s my point – I think we’re wasting some money and we’re just masking the problem"

Yasses thinks city officials and some NIC members don't have enough experience dealing with low-income people to really understand what many landlords are up against.

Eviction, of course, is an option, but it can also be difficult and expensive, especially if a tenant has been paying his rent on time. It begins with $500 in legal fees and ends with cleaning up the apartment (which can be especially costly if the tenant took vengeance on the evicting landlord) and then searching for a new tenant. The process can take months, especially if a good-paying tenant fights the eviction.

And in the end, a landlord may not even have improved his tenant situation.

"The new tenant is going to be the same pool of tenants," Yasses said. "The next tenant is going to be the same quality – and I don’t mean it that way, because they’re good people, just down on their luck – the next tenant isn’t going to be any better than what I had. We need to train them and teach them and hold them accountable, along with us."

City officials, NIC members and his Fifth Ward Representative Kathy Briggs need to come down on Thorpe and meet some of his tenants and see what he's doing to rehabilitate his buildings, Yasses said. He repeated several times that his tenants are good people just having a hard time, and that he's doing everything possible to improve the quality of his holdings as fast as he can in order to attract, hopefully, better tenants. But it takes time and money, he said.

“I’m doing the best I can," Yasses said. "You can’t get anybody decent to come down on Thorpe Street. When I bought this about four years ago, there was a ton of drug activity right here and right next door, bad, bad, bad. I got fed up, thought I could be the hero and forced these landlords to sell me these houses to get rid of the garbage. I can say right now, I have no drugs down here."

The property Yasses owns on Watson, Thorpe and Maple were probably bad investments, Yasses readily admits. He's losing money on them and gets by only because his investments in other jurisdictions are doing well.

And that's part of the problem -- Yasses said he doesn't have issues with municipal officials in other jurisdictions that he has in Batavia.

“I rehabilitated a four-unit in Middleport and they absolutely love it," Yasses said. "I’m putting my money where people appreciate it. ‘Wow, Jeremy, you put a new roof on, you painted, new windows – this looks great.’”

If he could walk away from his Thorpe area properties and take a $10,000 loss on he each, he said he would, but he doesn't have that kind of money. So he's committed to doing the best he can with them. He has no choice.

“I don’t want this to be a negative thing on the city," Yasses said. "The main problem is, you’ve got to have tenant accountability. I’m not the one putting the trash out. I’m not the one with the vehicles. If you really want to change, that’s what we need to do. Not by fining me. You can fine me. I can go before the next judge next Friday (on the car/tarp case)  – I hope he doesn’t take offense if this gets out there – but he could fine me five grand. He could put me in jail. But at the end of the day, the car still isn’t covered or taken care of because we didn't go to the source."

Masons begin effort to contribute to local charities

By Howard B. Owens

Last week, the Batavia Masons presented Paul and Bridget Ohlson with a $500 check to support their Cara-A-Van Ministries.

"We were proud to be able to make a small contribution to such a worthy cause," said Jim Rosenbeck (handing the check to Paul), Master of Lodge #475 of the Free and Accepted Masons. 

"Our lodge has decided to begin regularly identifying worthy causes within the community to financially support," Rosenbeck added. "With membership in all community service organizations dwindling, we feel that this is one way that we can help make a difference in Batavia."

Young Gal and Care- A-Van Shares the Love of Valentines Day

By Robin Walters

Meet Abigail, a young girl who was found sharing the love of Valentines day with residents of Washington Towers. Her and her grandma Linda were going door to door and sharing Valentines with the residents on this chilly Saturday morning.

Larry Hicks, volunteer of Care-A-Van visits with Margaret

Care-A-Van Ministries stopped by Washington towers to drop off baked goods for the residents  that were donated from a bakery in Alden. Seen here is Paul Ohlson, founder of the ministry helping Ann decide on a treat.

Happy Valentines Day!  May we all have a big heart like Abigal and her Grandma Linda!

 

Batavia Elks told charter revoked for local lodge

By Howard B. Owens

The Batavia Elks Lodge, #950, has been closed by order of the Grand Trustees of the National Order, according to a letter posted on the door.

A sign in a window says "closed until further notice" and carries a date from yesterday.

The lodge is located at 213 E. Main St., Batavia.

The shut-down notice accuses the local Elks of failing to make required reports and failure to comply with the Elks' auditing and accounting manual.

The letter states that the charter for Lodge #950 has been revoked.

Appointed as trustees of the lodge are Patrick Burns, of Ransomeville, John Ziezeiula, of Lockport, and Kenneth Perry, of Niagara Falls.

The notice informs the local Elks that they are to turn over all items used in ceremonies as well as books, papers and emblems to the trustees.

Local members, according to the notice, can apply to have their membership transferred to other lodges.

(Thank you to a reader for the news tip.)

Enthusiasm, optimisim abound for 2010 season at Muckdog's hot stove dinner

By Howard B. Owens

Easily more than 200 people gathered at the Batavia Party House last night for the Batavia Muckdogs Booster Club's annual hot stove dinner and auction. There were plenty of laughs and people expressed a lot of excitement about the coming season, which could be a critical year for drawing enough community support to keep the team in Batavia.

At the podium, Brian Paris honors "The Voice of the Muckdogs," Wayne Fuller, for his many years of service to the team as the public address announcer and official score keeper. Fuller stepped aside from those roles after the 2009 season. But his voice won't be far from a microphone during the upcoming season; he'll serve as color man on WBTA's broadcast of games.

More pictures after the jump:

Todd Jantzi, left, and Patrick Weissand chat during the silent auction.

Brian Paris, left, and Ryan Gugel chat with a fan who drove to the dinner from Greece.

Board member Bill Kauffman gets a gift from the board honoring his service to baseball in Batavia.

Gretel Kauffman is in the foreground. Immediately behind her is local artist John Hodgins, watching the bidding progress for his winter landscape painting. It fetched $255, well above any other auction item.

Auctioneer Todd Jantzi makes a sale.

Daily News photographer Mark Gutman goofs when the camera gets turned on him for a change. Writer Alanna Stage gets a good laugh.

Genesee County youth aim to rake in change for makin' change

By Daniel Crofts

Everybody likes a little friendly competition, right? And if it's for a good cause, all the better!

These guys definitely feel that way:

Half of them are pictured above...

...and here's the other half!

High schoolers from all over Genesee County are getting involved in "Change for Change" (C4C), a fundraising project for United Way of Genesee County. Student government reps from Batavia High School, the NYS State School for the Blind, Oakfield-Alabama High School and Pavillion Central School gathered in the BHS auditorium Yesterday to kick-start the project. 

From Mar. 8-26, the schools will compete to raise as much money as they can and deposit their funds in an account with the Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union (set up for United Way, with a sub-account for each school) every Friday.

BHS government members welcomed their fellow students and gave them the lay of the land (contest rules and stakes, etc.) at Thursday's meeting...

...starting with an icebreaker from treasurer Amanda Jones, who asked representatives of each school to come up with and share a few "fun facts" about their school.

Some interesting ones to consider:

1. O-A HS recently organized a lunch boycott

2. Pavilion is one of the few schools in the state with a pillow tournament

3. The Blind School has a heated pool with a moving floor

4. BHS has the best cookies in the state, inarguably, of course

 

Handling introductions was co-mayor C.J. Shultz, who introduced his fellow officers and their faculty advisors/helpers as follows:

"There's [mayor] Matt Hoye, who has nothing better to do than keep his beautiful red hair perfectly groomed.

"And next to him is Sahil Jain, our representative to the board of education -- which basically means he makes sure the students' voices are heard at board
meetings. But then he doesn’t get to vote for anything, so it doesn't really matter.

"Then we have the wonderful Amanda Jones, who is our treasurer. We have to trust her with our money. She ran unopposed, so we really didn't have a choice.

"Erica Bucci is our secretary, who takes great notes...when she's
there.

"In the audience is [BHS special education teacher] Mrs. Gammack, who is a great student advisor. Nobody else really wanted the job, so...

"And finally, there's Mrs. Johnson, who is the best statistics teacher at Batavia High…actually, she's the only statistics teacher at Batavia High."

Shultz and Hoye were the brains behind the whole operation, according to Gammack and the other student officers.

"They came to me with this idea in August," Gammack said. "And I thought it sounded great."

The project was inspired by 98 PXY's Penny Challenge, in which BHS students competed (and won!) two years ago. They raised $8,000 in pennies by doing "some crazy things" [crazy in a good way, of course], says UW Campaign Associate Christine Fix.

"We saw the school come together in a way that surpassed any kind of sporting event, school activity, etc.," Hoye said. "We felt that another fundraiser could produce a similar effect, continuing to blur the lines between grade levels and uniting the school as a single body."

"I remember how close our school became during the Penny Challenge," Jones said, "and I really wanted to start that kind of excitement within our school again, with a new group of kids."

During the Penny Challenge, the students saw how powerful a tool competition can be when raising money. This time, they decided to expand the range to include their peers throughout the county.

"I think this is a great way to encourage healthy competition and interaction between our schools," Jones said, "especially since Batavia doesn't participate with the smaller schools in sports very much, since we're in the Monroe County League."

There is another major difference from the 98 PXY fundraiser: this time, they are keeping it local.

"Even though we raised a lot of money [for the Penny Challenge], the proceeds went mostly to agencies in Rochester," Hoye said. "Although we are very proud of our efforts and the money we raised, we would like to see our money used within our own communities in Genesee County."

Representatives from area organizations that will benefit from this fundraiser came to the meeting to express their gratitude and to show the kids how much of a difference they will be making.

UW Regional Manager Lori Stupp pointed out that UW will "fall short of [its] goal this year" in terms of fundraising.

"What you guys are doing is going to help us recuperate some of that loss," she added.

Patricia Kurtz of the Salvation Army -- which receives $57,000 a year from UW -- took a moment to thank the high schoolers for "stepping up to represent [their] schools and to raise money for our community."

"Know how important what you're doing is to us," she added. "I hope this goes to show that when we are united, we are strong, and we can change the world together."

YMCA Regional Director Erik Fix called the C4C fundraising project "a phenomenal thing that speaks volumes about the students in our communities."

"It feels like we're a part of history at BHS," education board rep Jain said. "I feel like the fundraiser will only get bigger and better in the years to come, and to be among the people who started it is an incredible thing."

Students of each school were encouraged to be creative with their fundraisers, which could be anything ranging from competitions between the grades to placing cans at community businesses.

Shultz concluded the meeting on a mobilizing note. First, he quoted Gandhi's famous statement: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Second, he said: "Now get out there and raise as much money as you can. Booyah!"

Stay tuned to The Batavian for updates on C4C's progress, which will be submitted on a weekly basis once the project officially gets started.

 

Additional Note:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (pictured) and Legislator Jay Grasso came to talk to the students about the importance of civic responsibility and why Genesee County is a great place to live in, thereby encouraging them in their efforts.

Batavia Lions Club thanks one and all

By Billie Owens

Here's a letter of thanks to the community from the Batavia Lions Club.

The Batavia Lions Club, with the help of many community members, was very busy during the past Christmas holidays with several annual projects directed at serving the residents of Batavia and the Genesee County area.

During the Thanksgiving holidays, several Lions helped decorate downtown for Christmas. On Main Street alone, 43 light poles were decorated with individual lighted snowflakes along with lighted garland that was wrapped around each pole. Additionally, the Lions placed 24-inch red bows at the base of each snowflake. Lighted garland wrap was also placed on about 30 poles up and down two of our side streets.

The Lions Club’s investment in these decorations is in the neighborhood of $15,000 of which 100 percent of the money was raised from our community, local businesses and through funding we received through the office Assemblyman Steve Hawley. It takes approximately 60 man-hours to install and to disassemble all of these decorations. This year, with nice weather, the Lions were rather fortunate (usually these 60 hours are spent outdoors in the freezing Western New York weather).

Again this year, several Batavia Lions helped serve the annual Christmas dinner provided by T.F. Brown's restaurant. Working with Ben and Rick Mancuso and their crew, we served turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and all the fixings to many local families. In addition, the Lions provided toys for each and every child who attended. We would like to thank Ben and Rick for their wonderful generosity at a time of year when the need is most apparent.

This year’s Lions Club Boys Basketball Tournament was a resounding success. This tournament has become one of the premier high school tournaments in New York State.  This year, Batavia High School defeated Notre Dame High School for the title in an extremely hard fought game. The games were played at the newly renovated Genesee Community College gymnasium. The attendance was excellent in spite of the snowy conditions we experienced on the first night. We thank the college and its staff for their cooperation in providing this beautiful venue to showcase our local high school talent.

Finally, working with area schools and churches, the Lions Club provided certificates for food baskets from Tops Markets and new blankets for local families in need. Nineteen $50 gift cards for food and 17 new blankets were distributed through local schools. In addition, 18 $20 food cards and 18 blankets were given to needy families in our area through Father Ivan Trujillo.

We would like to express our appreciation to all who assisted in these worthy community projects. Our work would not be possible without the cooperation and help of so many.  Batavia is a city that truly cares and the members of the Batavia Lions Club feel very fortunate to be able to serve such a community.

OTB will seek meeting with State Lottery to find solution to State's concerns

By Howard B. Owens

The OTB is ready to do just about anything to avoid having the State Lottery pull all of the video lottery terminals from Batavia Downs Casino.

That was the message from Western OTB attorney Timothy McCarthy following a closed session meeting of the board at the casino and racetrack this morning.

"They're the boss and it's important they are treated as such and that we not get in a fight as to what we may have done," McCarthy said.

While characterizing the issues raised by the State Lottery in a Feb. 3 letter to the OTB board as "procedural" and "administrative," he said the board is taking the warning very seriously and will react accordingly.

He stressed that there are no allegations of criminality or missing money.

Before the board went into closed session, McCarthy said a private meeting was necessary in order to discuss possible litigation.

After the meeting, McCarthy said there is no plan to get involved in a lawsuit, but given the nature of the enforcement action, the possibility of a hearing and the need to preserve attorney-client privilege, he thought the private session was necessary.

"We chose not to be pugnacious," McCarthy said. "We chose to try and work with the Lottery. We take the Lottery very seriously. The determination by the board was, 'let's find the best way to keep peace.' The best way to keep the peace is to go hat in hand to the Lottery. There is no benefit to be achieved by being litigious, but nevertheless, that option, as it obviously must, was considered."

McCarthy noted that Batavia Downs has provided $75 million in revenue for state schools since it opened with VLTs (slot machines) in May 2005. The Downs also provides a good deal of revenue to local government agencies.

He said the board will do what's necessary to maintain that cash flow.

"If they (board members) want to characterize it as going to the woodshed, they may very well characterize it as such," McCarthy said.

The board agreed to send a four-person delegation to Schenectady to meet with Lottery officials in order to find a solution to the threat of closure.

Among the Lottery's requests is that the Downs hire a consultant to help put the procedural and administrative issues back in order. McCarthy did not say so explicitly, but the tone and tenor of his remarks indicate a willingness to follow that advice.

The members of the delegation will be Paul Lattimore, from Cayuga County, Richard Bianchi, Monroe, Richard Siebert, Genesee and Marcia Touhey, Orleans.

Previously:

 

Landlord who was denied auction property defends his record

By Howard B. Owens

Michael Pullinzi says he has a record as a landlord that he will stack up against anybody.

He feels he was treated unfairly by the Batavia City Council on Monday when the council voted 5-4 to deny him a property at 9 Willow St. that he won in a city auction of delinquent tax properties.

"I challenge them to do a fair comparison of all landlords in the city on the same seven-year period, and I guarantee I will be near the bottom of that list," Pullinzi said in a comment left on the site. "I put over $100K into my properties last year alone and have several open contracts for windows, roofs, siding, carpet, already for this year. I have always been very cooperative with code personnel and all issues are resolved promptly."

Pullinzi's comment was removed because The Batavian has a policy of not editing comments, but there was one sentence that ran counter to site standards.

A copy of the memo given to council is thin on details, but lists reported violations that appear to have more to do with tenant conduct than landlord misconduct.

The list violations include failure to remove debris, yard waste and garbage. The memo also cites grass violations in "multiple" years at 4 Swan St.

Other reported violations include "paint" and "interior viol."  There was also reportedly an unlicensed auto reported at 44-46 Walnut St. in 2003.

"If they had bothered to contact me, I could have explained the most of the 13 code citations over seven years were tenants putting out an extra bag of trash," Pullinzi said. "Most issues in the notices were resolved before I even received the notice and I never had to received a secondary notice on any matter."

The memo states that all violations were corrected and that none of the property owners who bought property at the auction had any outstanding violations, nor had any of the property owners been billed for corrective actions taken by the city.

Among the violations Pullinzi said he received notice on was for a driveway that needed potholes fixed.

"The problem was that it was not my driveway and instead was a city alleyway along the side of my property," Pullinzi said. "To date, the city has not fixed the potholes they demanded I fix, and it has been years."

While the city memo doesn't specify police calls to properties owned by Pullinzi, he said any concern about such calls is misplaced.

"I rent to a lot of handicapped and special-needs tenants and the majority of the police contacts were for emergency medical care calls," Pullinzi said. "Others were for my finding a tenant in a diabetic coma about a year ago, and another contact was my finding the tenant deceased and contacting police. I guess (City Council President Marianne) Clattenburg and (Councilwoman Kathy) Briggs are saying no one should rent to ARC or special-needs individuals or those with medical concerns."

Pullinzi owns properties at 4 Swan, 44-46 Walnut St., 25 Fisher Park, 203 Ross St. and 511 Ellicott St.

Oldsters, youngsters attend tea party honoring their volunteerism

By Daniel Crofts

Batavia area senior citizens and youth got together last week to celebrate their outstanding service to the community. It was a mutual admiration society with a broad age range.

The "Minnie Tea Celebration" was held by the Retired Senior Volunteer Program in conjunction with the Genesee County Youth Bureau. It took place at the Senior Center on Bank Street in honor of RSVP volunteers who helped the Genesee County Health Department at the end of 2009 as well as teens who planted and cared for an indoor garden for the Minnie Garden Project. 

RSVP volunteers served the health department by distributing flu vaccines -- both seasonal and H1N1 -- and by performing other tasks such as nursing, paperwork and triage. Thanks to the diligent work of these hearty seniors, the GCHD managed to issue over 6,000 doses of the vaccine by the end of 2009.

 

Meanwhile, area high-schoolers got to try their hands at gardening with the help of Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener David Russell. He was beaming with pride at the tea party and couldn't say enough about the students' dedication to the Minnie Garden Project.

"I'm so proud of the job these kids did," Russell said. "These are kids with different backgrounds who came together and did an excellent job. I'm really proud of them."

In addition to being awarded certificates, the youths were given the honor of having their produce served as hors d'oeuvres at the tea party.

The party was funded by a grant written by 22-year-old former Youth Bureau member Vicki Ripper. Since she finished working at the bureau in November, AmeriCorps Vista volunteer Lauren Paluta and Youth Bureau employee Angela Barbeau have taken control of the program.

Paluta put together last week's event with RSVP Coordinator Dorian Ely. Paluta was the hostess in Ely's absence and, together with Barbeau, she presented certificates of appreciation to the senior and youth volunteers.

 

 

In the last two photos, Hannah and Leah Rosenbeck hand out decorated terra cotta flowerpots to the seniors as they return to their seats after receiving certificates. See the article on RSVP's intergenerational project for more information on this.

Muckdogs' fan beating the drum to sustain 71-year tradition of pro baseball in Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

If the Muckdogs don't last in Batavia, it won't be because Russ Salway didn't put every ounce of passion he has behind the effort to save the team.

The Le Roy native spends at least 10 hours a week in an office at Dwyer Stadium calling on local and regional businesses trying to sell season ticket packages and special event attendance as well as stadium advertising.

If you bump into him around town, he's likely going to want to talk at some point about the Muckdogs and the need for fan support this season -- this season, especially.

Salway has also set up a group on Facebook called, appropriately enough, Let's Keep the Batavia Muckdogs in Batavia.

Russ Salway doesn't work for the Muckdogs or the Rochester Red Wings, who took over management of the team three years ago. Salway is a volunteer.

"We are obviously operating with a small staff, so we can't get to everything," said General Manager Travis Sick. "So to have somebody like Russ, who is so familiar with the community and knows a lot of people, is a great help.

"He's a tremendous help to us," Sick added. "A lot of people say they want to help, but very few come through like Russ. He's great."

Salway said he is putting so much time and effort to promote the Muckdogs because he can't image Batavia without minor league baseball.

"If we lose the team, we'll never get another one," Salway said.

Last season, the Muckdogs lost about $150,000. That deficit was covered by Rochester Community Baseball, the community group that owns the Red Wings. Club officials say they can't sustain those kinds of losses indefinitely. 

"The Red Wings are definitely behind baseball here, but we need to show some improvement," Sick said. "This is still a business and we can't sustain a hundred-thousand-dollar loss year after year. I don't want to call this a make-or-break year, but we've got to show some improvement."

And Salway says he's making progress. He's finding more people and businesses willing to make a commitment to the Muckdogs this season.

"People are really stepping up," Salway said. "There is no reason we can't make this work."

Sick said season ticket sales are slightly ahead of sales from this time last year.

Salway has become such an integral part of promoting Muckdogs baseball, that it's hard to forget it's not his real job. He has worked for O-AT-KA Milk Products for 15 years, where he mixes ingredients for speciality drinks. 

His schedule allows him to go to Dwyer Stadium to field phone calls for a couple of hours during the week. He runs the Facebook group from home at night.

You might think all of this extra time spent on a volunteer effort might put a strain on his personal relationships, but Salway said that his fiancee, Kellie Porter, is 110 percent behind his effort and even puts in volunteer hours herself.

Both Salway and Porter are doing it, not just for the community, he said, but for their children.

"My kids grew up down the road from Dwyer and we've been going to games for years," he said. "I want the team to remain for years so I can take my grandchildren. It's such a great thing for the community. It's a safe, family-friendly environment. It's really the last place in the county were you can go and see old friends and make new ones."

Sick said it won't take much for the team to show progress -- if more people would just go to one more game a year and a few bring some friends, that would help. The team draws about 2 percent of the population to games. If that number just ticked up a notch to 3 percent, it would make a huge difference, Sick said.

The Muckdogs are part of a tradition of professional baseball in Batavia that goes back to 1939. The New York-Penn League was founded in Batavia. Salway said Batavia shouldn't lose that continuity and that sense of history.

The next big event in the life of every Muckdog's fan is the Hot Stove Dinner on Friday at the Batavia Party House. It may be possible to purchase tickets ($25) at the door, but it would be better to buy them in advance at Dwyer Stadium.

Photo: Kiwi, the gum-chewing dog

By Howard B. Owens

I happened to stop in Terry Platt's office today and the conversation eventually got around to dog tricks. It turns out his dog, Kiwi, likes to chew gum. That was entertaining to watch.

Officials: State Street fire victim involved in previous smoking-related fires

By Howard B. Owens

Mary E. Pawlukiewicz, who died last night in a fire at 132 State St., was warned just this past Sunday by fire officials about the dangers of smoking around her oxygen tanks.

That small fire Sunday was the second, and possibly, third smoking-related fire connected to the 57-year-old Pawlukiewicz.

In the summer of 2009, in the parking lot of Walmart, a car reportedly occupied by Pawlukiewicz caught fire and was destroyed. She sustained minor burns in that fire. Smoking and oxygen tanks were reportedly to blame for that blaze.

In 2002, there was a fire at 132 State St., but it hasn't been determined with certainty yet that Pawlukiewicz was living at the residence at the time.

There are currently no regulations requiring no smoking by patients using oxygen tanks.

At least one of Pawlukiewicz's tanks exploded last night.

As for the fire Sunday, Det. Rich Schuaf said at a press conference this morning that when the Fire Department arrived, the oxygen unit had been disabled, but its alarm was sounding and a tube had been disconnected.

"She reported that there was a fire, but it was out by the time the fire department got there," Schauff said.

Last night's fire could have been much worse, according to Schauff. A woman, Melissa Ricigliano, and her three children were just leaving at 5:45 p.m. to visit a neighbor. That was an unusual time for them to leave, Ricigliano reportedly told police. Normally, they wouldn't leave until 6 p.m., in which case her and her children would have been in their apartment not yet in a position to evacuate quickly.

Last night, as soon as Ricigliano opened her door, an alarm sounded and there was an explosion. She was able to quickly get her children, all under age 6, out of the building.

"She felt quite fortunate that her plans changed and she left early that day," Schauf said.

There was an attempt made to rescue Pawlukiewicz. Officer Chris Camp as well as witnesses tried to gain entry to the burning building, but the heat and flames were too intense.

Camp tried to enter through the front door and from a south side window, but couldn't get access.

"He was told there was a good chance that she was (still inside)," Schauf said. "The neighbor had a strong feeling she was there. She wasn't positive. She hadn't seen her that day, but she felt she should be in there. She was persistent that there was a good chance she was in there."

City officials are inspecting the building today to determine whether the other two families living there will be able to re-enter the building any time soon to either recover property or move back in.

Currently, they are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.

Picture: Det. Rich Schauf, left, and Capt. Patrick O'Donnell, at this morning's press conference.

O'Lacy's takes top honors for Guinness pour

By Howard B. Owens

Any bloke can pour a beer, but getting the perfect head on a Guinness -- that's an art.

It turns out that nobody in New York, or the entire Eastern United States for that matter, pours a better Guinness than the staff at O'Lacy's Irish Pub on School Street in Batavia.

The O'Lacy's pour is so good, in fact, that it placed number three in the nation in a contest sponsored by the Ireland-based Diageo Company, makers of Guinness.

The winners were selected based on the text-message votes of patrons of bars that serve Guinness.

O'Lacy's, opened in 1997 and is owned by Kent Ewell & Nancy Bachulak. It beat out 2,100 other contestants for the "best pour" honor.

Pictures: Bank Street Road garage fire

By Howard B. Owens

These are pictures from the fire we reported this afternoon on Bank Street Road. The fire was confined to a garage owned by Everett West. The fire appears to have started with a wood stove in one corner of the garage and quickly spread to the second level. Daniel West was working outside of the garage at the time of the fire and spotted smoke coming from the garage and called 9-1-1.

Town of Batavia and Elba fire responded and Oakfield and Stafford provided standby at the Batavia fire halls.

More pictures after the jump:

Wheelchair-bound woman dies in State Street fire

By Howard B. Owens

(Post updated 10:18 p.m.)

A woman who'd been reportedly warned about smoking near her oxygen tank died tonight in a fire at 132 State St., Batavia.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but several people reported hearing explosions as the fire broke out.

Batavia Police Officer Chris Camp was the first on scene and reported a fully involved structure fire. Camp and witnesses tried to enter the residence to rescue the woman, but flames, fed by exploding oxygen tanks, prevented them from reaching her.

UPDATE 9:42 a.m., Wednesday: The woman has been identified as Mary E. Pawlukiewicz

The woman's husband arrived at the scene about 6:45 p.m., but other family members had not yet been notified, so the woman's identity was not released. She was 57, reportedly confined to a wheelchair and lived alone in a ground-floor apartment.

Batavia Fire Chief Ralph Hyde said city firefighters found the woman's body buried under rubble.

"That was hard on them," he said.

The complex was home to three families, according to landlord Chuck Pero.

"It's just too bad that it happened," Pero said. "She was warned about not smoking with the oxygen. She wouldn't listen to anybody."

When firefighters arrived on scene at 5:45 p.m., flames were already reaching into the attic, according to Hyde.

"I had some report of an oxygen tank exploding, which would have fed that fire very rapidly," Hyde said.

The investigation by Batavia fire and police remains ongoing at 10:15 p.m., with the assistance from Genesee County Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Keith Hunt and and New York State Fire Investigator Montour Falls.

American Red Cross is assisting the other displaced families.

Above, after learning of a family member's death, relatives console each other with a fire official.

More pictures after the jump:

Above, residents remove an aquarium that firefighters carried from the building after the fire was out. One of the residents said the aquarium contained a bull python.

Report of house fire on State Street, Batavia

By Howard B. Owens

A house fire has been reported at 132 State St., Batavia.

It's a confirmed working structure fire in a four-unit complex.

Numerous explosions reported in the building. An elderly woman may still be in the building.

It's gone to a second alarm.

UPDATE(S)(Billie Owens)( (5:57 p.m.): They first accessed the basement. Soon thereafter over the scanner -- "We've pretty much got it knocked out," reports a firefighter at the scene. All occupants are out. They're checking the basement, first and second floors once more.

UPDATE (6:01 p.m.): Heard over the scanner: "We've got zero visability up here. Can we please get some windows broken out." Also, a Town of Batavia crew is heading to city fire headquarters for standby.

UPDATE (6:11 p.m.): They've almost got the fire out in the attic now, but need ventilation. There are no windows, so they're going to tear open the roof.

UPDATE (6:22 p.m.): City police have confirmed there is one fatality.

UPDATE (6:34 p.m.): The property owner, Chuck Pero, said the person who died in the fire was an older woman who'd lived there 15 years. He said she was recently warned not to smoke around her oxygen tank. But the cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Also, National Grid is headed to the scene and American Red Cross is requested to assist one resident.


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Textile business evacuated following smoke alarm

By Billie Owens

Employees of Angelica Textile Services, located at 3 Apollo Drive in the City of Batavia, have been evacuated from the building following a smoke alarm.

It is reported that there is possibly a fire smoldering in a dryer vent, where some lint may have ignited during maintenance work.

A little smoke was seen coming out of an exhaust blower vent. A firefighter asked that the blower be turned on and "send a drying chemical right up through the system."

The company at that location provides linens and "textile solutions" to the healthcare industry.

Textile business evacuated following smoke alarm

By Billie Owens

Employees of Angelica Textile Services, located at 3 Apollo Drive in the City of Batavia, have been evacuated from the building following a smoke alarm.

It is reported that there is possibly a fire smoldering in a dryer, where some lint ignited during some maintenance work.

A little smoke was seen coming out of an exhaust blower vent. A firefighter asked that the blower be turned on and "send a drying chemical right up through the system."

The company at that location provides linens and "textile solutions" to the healthcare industry.

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