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For those of you who missed it, Daily News reporter Joanne Beck turned out an excellent piece Saturday on the proposed pay raises for city officials. When Beck questioned city leaders about the raises slated for department heads, despite the down economy, and about the significant increase in pay for the assistant city manager—$24,000 more than past assistants—she was accused of being sexist.

From that article:

Council President Charlie Mallow believes it's a ''sexist'' form of badgering for no good reason.

"It seems we have chosen to disrespect and take for granted those who have come in to clean up the mess others have left us with," Mallow said Thursday. "I also believe there is sexism in this whole line of questioning. There are at least four other men that make more money than (Assistant Manager Sally Kuzon) and I don't see repeated questions about them."

Mallow and City Manager Jason Molino felt the same way, they said: The assistant's salary is justified and the topic is not really news. But it wasn't Kuzon, who has worn many hats to oversee public works, community development and code enforcement, being questioned. Her salary of about $84,000 was. Past assistants have made about $60,000.

The issue of salary increases has been raised on a few occasions. When The Batavian asked about the raises for department heads last month, we were told that it was only fair because all the other city employees were guaranteed raises as a result of union contracts.

Mallow told us in an e-mail at the time:

There is a sense of right and wrong here. I do not believe non-union employees should be punished for not being part of a collective barging unit. Keep in mind that our administrative people have worked hand in hand with council to eliminate close to a $3 million dollar spending deficit in the last two years. The hard work of these administrative people reduced the size of city government. Some people out of sheer ignorance would like to single these people out; I think the rest of the community understands how far we have come and who helped us along the way.

Since then we have been trying to break out the budget info that pertains specifically to employee salaries. Last week, in what ought to be the ultimate effort, we filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the city clerk's office. In it, we requested the salaries for all city employees for the current fiscal year, the proposed salaries for the coming year, and those of the previous year.

On February 13, five days after we filed the request, we were informed that it would require 45 days for the city to compile the information. From Heidi Parker, city clerk: "With regards to the request for salary information, gathering that data could take a significant amount of time and therefore will be available within 45 days. I will forward you the information sooner, if I get it before the 45 days."

If you do the math, that would make the information available on March 30. City Council has until March 31 to approve the budget. Right now, they plan to vote well before that date, likely early in March at the next business meeting, we were told.

The question is simple: How can the city justify pay raises when the economy is so obviously in a funk? In downtown Batavia alone, five business have closed their doors since November, and more are rumored to follow suit. More than just a loss to the business community and downtown shoppers and diners, these closures signify a loss of tax revenue.

It turns out we weren't the only ones who had trouble procuring such information. A councilman and the Daily News also ran into road blocks. Fortunately for the Daily, their FOIL request was approved in time.

Councilman Bob Bialkowski has asked to add salaries to the agenda for council's conference meeting Feb. 23. He wants to discuss the topic of salaries versus personnel, he said.

That won't happen during public session, Mallow said. He feels it is about personnel, which is personal, and it won't be a free-for-all in open session, he said.

Bialkowski had asked to get administrative salary information but was rebuffed by council, he said. He was not aware what the top salaries were until they were published in The Daily News recently, he said. That information, which was obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request, listed the assistant manager's salary at the top with $83,959, followed by the city manager's salary at $83,487. Those salaries are contingent on a proposed 2.85 percent raise in the 2009-10 budget. City Council has until March 31 to adopt a final budget.

Wilma Nichols of Alexander was awarded the Rotary Club of Batavia's highest honor for a non-Rotarian yesterday afternoon. WBTA's Dan Fischer tells us that Nichols was surprised at lunch yesterday with the Paul Harris Fellowship, named for the founder of Rotary. Nichols was 8 years old when the Batavia Rotary was formed in 1919. She is 98 today.

Fischer writes:

Wilma has served lunch to the Rotary Club every week for more years than anyone can remember. The club surprised Wilma yesterday, secretly inviting her family to attend the ceremony. Past Rotary Presidents served lunch to Wilma.

Wilma accepted the award with her typical humility and grace.

Visit WBTA online to hear Nichols.

BYRON, NY -- A small plan has  reportedly crashed into trees behind 6946 Ivison Road.

There are no reported injuries and minor damage to the plane.

There is reportedly a small, personal runway behind the house at that location.

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UPDATE 2:00 p.m.: John Sackett of Batavia said it looked like a beautiful day to take in World War II era Ercoupe prop plane for a short air patrol. Unfortunately, the battery was a little short on juice, so he needed to start it by turning the propeller.

That's where things went wrong. Sackett said the engine got a little too much gas and when the engine started, the plane pushed over its chocks and started rolling down the runway.

Sackett was able to avoid getting hit by his own plane, but the grape vines of a neighboring house were less fortunate.  As the plane entered the yard from Sackett's private runway, it headed straight for the grapes, hit a post, spun nearly 360 degrees and rolled into three pine trees, where it came to rest.

There were no injuries.

Sackett valued the plane -- used to train pilots near the end of WW II -- at $25,000.  One wing was damaged and there's dent on the engine compartment. He said he isn't sure how much it will cost to repair the damage.  He's owned the plane since April.

 The Batavia boys basketball team just couldn't compete with Irondequoit's inside and outside game Monday night and were blown out by host Irondequoit 66-41 in the opening round of the Monroe County League Tournament.

Class AAA powerhouse Irondequoit had a size advantage at every position on the floor and never trailed in the game.

Batavia has no player over 6-foot-2 while the Eagles have seven of that height or taller, including 6-8 big man Jordan Heath.

Tyler Condello opened the game with a pair of foul shots and Chris Culver drained a 3-pointer as Irondequoit led 5-0 to start the contest. Rob Hoy hit a jumper and Joe Schlossel scored twice to keep the game close early. When Marcus Hoy hit a pair of free throws with about two minutes left, Batavia only trailed 11-8.

But Heath scored twice before another Schlossel bucket and the Eagles led 15-11 after the opening eight minutes.

Jeremy Jackson and Heath both scored at the opening of the second quarter to extend the lead to nine points. Rob Hoy hit a 3 and Marcus Hoy and Dakota Irvin hit a bucket to cut the deficit to four points midway through the period.

But Culver hit a trey and Heath scored twice to extend the lead to 11. Irondequoit had a 30-21 lead at intermission.

Schlossel had three baskets early in the second half, but the Eagles matched before going on a 11-2 run to end the frame. Culver was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and connected on all three attempts and then hit a jumper and a 3 before Kurt Soppe scored to make the score 47-31 going into the fourth quarter.

Heath dunked twice in the fourth quarter to put the nail in the coffin. He ended the game with 24 points and eight rebounds with Culver finishing up with 19 points and seven assists. Jackson had nine rebounds as Irondequoit (18-1) will play Rush-Henrietta (17-2) in the finals on Wednesday.

Schlossel had 14 points to lead the Blue Devils (16-3), who will try to avenge two regular season losses to Pittsford Sutherland (15-4) in the consolation game Wednesday.

Marcus Hoy had 11 points and seven dimes and leading scorer Andrew Hoy was held to six points, but grabbed seven boards.

Everywhere I go I see people texting or talking on their cell phones. Now the craze of constantly checking each other’s status has gone to the next level. Technology today offers numerous ways to not only stay connected to friends and family, but to keep a constant eye on them, to know wherever they are, whenever.

On Wednesday, Feb. 4, Google launched Latitude, a location-tracking service that uses GPS hardware found in smart phones to pinpoint your real-time position on a map and share that information with friends. The program seems simple to download: enter your cell phone number and wait for the link to arrive to your phone.

Seventeen-year-old Oakfield resident Justin Potter said he would love to try the new Google Latitude application. “Cool, I would love to check this out,” Potter said after he heard what Latitude was all about.

Before users are able to see where their friends are, they must first have an account with Google, have Latitude downloaded, and make sure their phone is compatible. Potter was eager to try it. Unfortunately, his cell phone was not compatible, and the only other way he could use the program was through his computer at home.

“I would rather have it on my cell phone,” Potter said, disappointed.

Even though Potter wasn’t able to download Latitude to his phone, he said this would be an easier way to connect with his friends.“I will definitely check out this program,” he said, adding that his friends would likely enjoy it, too.

At first, Potter thought that anyone would be able to track his location. Latitude’s maps shows the user’s location, marked with a picture of the person that has been uploaded onto their Google account. But users must add friends and then send an invite, similar to the friend request system used with Myspace and Facebook. Your friends must accept before you can track their location.

Batavia resident Alicia Philips, 40, screamed with excitement about using Latitude.

“Heck yes! I would love to use this,” she said. “This would be so beneficial, especially in case of an emergency.” Phillips is the mother of three and said she would love to use it as another means to find out exactly where her children are.

Google gives the user three privacy settings: a user's location can be updated automatically, manually updated, or they can hide their location from friends. And, of course, they can always just turn Latitude off.

Not everyone is so enthusiastic, however. A "privacy" group based in the UK that goes by the name of Privacy International issued a full statement on what they found to be a major security flaw with the program: the potential for a third party to hack into the program. The group's conclusion sounds damning:

Privacy International believes Google has created an unnecessary danger to the privacy and security of users. It is clear the company is aware of the need to create a message alert on Latitude-enabled phones but has chosen to launch the service without universal access to this safeguard. The Director of Privacy International, Simon Davies, said:

"Many people will see Latitude as a cool product, but the reality is that Google has yet again failed to deliver strong privacy and security. The company has a long way to go before it can capture the trust of phone users."

"As it stands right now, Latitude could be a gift to stalkers, prying employers, jealous partners and obsessive friends. The dangers to a user’s privacy and security are as limitless as the imagination of those who would abuse this technology."

As to be expected, Google was swift to respond.

“We recognize the sensitivity of location data, so we've built fine-grained privacy controls right into the application,” Vic Gundtra, Google's VP of engineering wrote in a blog post. 

The program can be installed at Google Latitude.

Latitude is currently available in 27 countries, and Google hopes to expand. The program is free but there may be carrier charges. Phones that are enabled to use this program include: T-mobile Android, Blackberry, iPhone, Motorola, Nokia, Nokia S60, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Windows Mobile.

From the Genesee County Democrats:

The Genesee County Democratic Party held their Annual Valentine’s Day Dinner Dance at Sacred Heart Hall on Saturday, February 14th.  Under the Chairmanship of Lew Henning of Batavia, this annual event brought together party faithful and elected officials from across Western New York.  As part of a GLOW County commitment program, Democrats joined from Genesee, Livingston, Wyoming Counties as well as Erie County to celebrate the past successful elections.

“We are very excited about our local, statewide and national elections this past November,” declared Lorie Longhany, Genesee County Democrat Party Chair.  “It is great to be here celebrating with all those that worked hard on that election.  I am also pleased that we are able to share that success with our surrounding Democrat Party leaders and elected officials.”

The Master of Ceremonies for the event was City of Batavia Council President Charles Mallow.  Music and entertainment were provided.  “This year we will be working hard on our local races, including the City of Batavia At-Large Council Seats,”declared Mallow.  “Now is the time to move forward, assess issues and work hard to insure the best possible government for our constituents.”

Democrats are expected to announce their slate of candidates in late spring or early summer.  All County Legislature Seats are up as well as City Council At-Large Seats.

Big winners of the evening were Raymond Yacuzzo of LeRoy, who won the 50/50 Drawing and Margaret Kapperman of Batavia, winner of the Door Prize.

Ryan Darch and Nick Lazarony were sectional champions last year for the Batavia wrestling team and the two were favorites heading into the Section 5 Class BBB Tournament this weekend.

They didn't disappoint and won individual championships, helping to lead the Batavia wrestling team to a third-place finish overall. Palmyra-Macedon won the team title with 272 points with Bath taking second with 190 and Batavia third with 160.

Attica was fifth with 136.5 points.

 Lazarony was a Monroe County League champion for the Blue Devils and remains hot this postseason. The 112-pounder rolled to the sectional championships.

Lazarony first won a major decision of Midlakes' Max Peters 16-1, in 6:00. After that it was a 10-1 win over Ryan Howes of North Rose-Wolcott, earning him a trip to the semifinals.

He blanked Palmyra-Macedon's Dylan Rifenberg 7-0 in the semifinals. Lazarony had a tough match with Bath's Kyle Conrad in the finals but pulled through with a 4-3 decision, earning his second consecutive title.

Darch had a pair of pins at 160 pounds to get to the semifinals. He dropped Pal-Mac's Chris Argus in 2:33 in the first round and Hornell's Zach Bacon in 1:55 in the second.

He won a 7-2 decision over Brad Vecellieo of Wayland-Cohocton in the semifinals before defeating Ethan Lamphier of Wellsville, 9-2, in the championship round.

Troy Ireland almost got a shot at his teammate in the finals as he made the semifinals at 160 pounds, where he lost to Lamphier via pin in 1:30. Ireland went on to take third by beating Vecellieo 10-2 in the consolation finals.

Batavia also had three second place finishes.

Josh Mase knocked off Skyler Hendley of Way-Co in the semifinals before losing to top-seeded Bradley Mayville of Bishop Kearney 7-5 in the finals.

Anthony D'Aurizio was seeded third at 171 pounds, where Bath's Cody Hutcheson was expected to roll to the title. Hutcheson is the defending state champion.

D'Aurizio knocked off second-seeded Adam Slater of Sodus in the semifinals, 6-2, and nearly shocked everybody at the tournament in the finals. D'Aurizio took Hutcheson to the wire and wound up losing 3-2 to take second.

Dylan Goodsell finished second at 215 pounds as he made the finals with a 5-4 win over Lester Fanton of Wellsville in the semifinals. He lost a 4-3 decision to Pal-Mac's Pat Krenz in the finals.

 Attica's Doug Beitz won the 285 pound championship.

Beitz beat Mike Pryce of Sodus in the opening round 4-2 and pinned Bryan Wood of Dansville in 3:51 in the quarterfinals. He then pinned Waterloo's Zach Brown in 3:27 to earn a trip to the finals.

In the finals, Beitz held on for a 1-0 decision over Pal-Mac's Mason Judd.

Vinnie Napierski made the finals at 119 pounds with an 11-0 win over William Wells of NR-W in the semifinals, but was pinned by Tyler Marlow of Pal-Mac in 3:31 in the championship.

Dave Jennings pinned Tyler Deuel of Waterloo in 2:54 at 189 pounds to make the finals, where he lost to Zack Simons of Bath 4-1.

Lance Compton took third at 125 pounds and Spencer Ford took third at 152.

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Letchworth brought home the team title in Class BB with 243 points, topping Holley, which finished with 191.5 points. Le Roy took fourth (148), Byron-Bergen was sixth (102.5), Pembroke was 10th (78) and Alexander was 15th (42).

Defending state champion Quentin Murphy won for the Hawks at 119 pounds, pinning Pembroke's Adam Hill in 2:30 in the finals.

Jessi Kimmerly won the title at 112 pounds and Tim Banks is the champion at 130.

Pembroke's Graham Jensen won a 9-4 decision over Holley's Kyle Steadman to win the 189 pound title.

Jake Harvey, Tyler Fenstermaker and Ed Cigno all had runner-up finished for Le Roy with Colby Sanner and Travis Taylor having second place finishes for Pembroke. Byron-Bergen's Zach Green was second at 171 pounds.

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There was no question that Warsaw was going to win Class B and the Tigers easily won the team tournament.

Lyndonville took second and Kendall was fifth.

Josh Brabon took home the 119 pound title and John Brabon won at 160 pounds for Lyndonville.

Jake ReQua won at 96 points for the Eagles.

(Thank you to Tony D'Aurizio for the photos)

The Batavia boys and girls indoor track teams defended their titles Saturday at the Section 5 Class C Indoor Track Meet at Hobart. And the boys barely got it.

It was a second consecutive championship for the boys and it came right down to the last event as the Blue Devils needed the 4x200 meter relay to get at least sixth place.

Well, Ryan Wood, Devonte Rolle, Ray Williams and Francisco Martinez came in sixth and scored one point and Batavia edged Bath 71-70 for the title.

The only event winner for Batavia was Greg Kryman, who won the high jump with a jump of 6-feet. He was also on the second place 4x400 relay team with Rich Baird, Rolle and Adam Pierce.

The girls won a seventh straight championship, crushing second place Palmyra-Macedon 192-63.

Angela Jarvela had a dominant performance in winning the 1500 and 3000 while taking second in the 600.

Jordan Mancuso won the 1000 and triple jump with Samantha Yager taking first in the shot put. Batavia also won the 4x200 relay as Tessa Williams, Erica Williams, Cady Hume and Shannon Shmitt won in a photo finish.

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The Le Roy boys track team scored 127 points to blow out second place Oakfield-Alabama in Class D, as the Hornets scored 51 points. Alexander was fourth (50) and Byron-Bergen (12) was 11th.

Alonzo Wilson won the 55 meter dash with Jake Krautwurst winning the 1600 and 3200 for the Oatkan Knights.

Joe Schwab won the pole vault and Ethan Belcher won the triple jump. Le Roy also won the 4x200 meter and 4x800 meter relays.

Cody Dieterle won the 300 and 600 while Kevin Grazioplane took the 1000 for O-A.

Alexander had a 1-2 finish in the long jump as Tim McGreevy was first and Steve Shaffer was second.

The Alexander and Le Roy girls tied for fourth overall in Class D with Oakfield-Alabama taking sixth and Byron-Bergen finishing seventh.

Le Roy's Jasmine Poles was a triple winner, taking the top spot  in the 55 and 300 meter dashes as well as the long jump.

O-A's Kim Mills took first in the 600 and the Byron-Bergen girls won the 4x800 relay.

Complete results from the championships can be found here.

 (Thanks to Mary Jo Hume for the photos)