batavia

Daniel Lee Goodell, 41, of South Volutia Street, Wichita, Kan., is charged with sex abuse 1st. Goodell was arrested by the Sherriff's Office on a warrant in Kansas and returned to New York. He is accused of sexually abusing children less than 11 years old in 2009 and 2010 in Alexander.  He was arraigned in Town of Alexander Court and ordered held without bail. Goodell was also arrested by State Police and charged with 12 counts of Sexual Abuse 1st, 12 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and one count of sexual conduct with a child. The State Police alleged that between 2019 and 2021, Goodell abused children less than 14 years old on multiple occasions. Goodell moved from New York before the criminal investigation was opened, according to State Police. Goodell was extradited from Kansas on Sept. 30.  On the State Police charges, he was arraigned in Town of Alexander Court and ordered held on $30,000 bail or $60,000 bond.

Delonta R. Curry, 21, of Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds and criminal possession of a weapon. Curry is accused of possessing a weapon on school grounds on Feb. 13 at 8:26 p.m. on Washington Avenue. He was arrested on a warrant on Sept. 24, arraigned in City Court, and ordered held on bail.

Shawn R. Wisniewski, 33, of Medina, is charged with petit larceny. Wisniewski is accused of stealing from a business on Jackson Street on Sept. 20 at 10:36 a.m. He was released on an appearance ticket.

Chazmar T. Walters, 29, of Le Roy, was arrested on a warrant on Aug. 15. The nature of the warrant was not released. Walters was released and ordered to appear in City Court at a later date.

Daniel T. Henning, 42, of Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of stolen property 5th. Henning is accused of possessing stolen property while on Veterans Memorial Drive, Batavia, on March 28 at 2:55 p.m. He was arraigned in Town of Batavia Court and released on his own recognizance.

Jolene Y. Stevens, 33, no permanent address, is charged with failure to appear. Stevens was arrested on multiple warrants. She was arraigned in City Court and ordered held on $500 bail, $1,000 bond, or $5,000 partially secured bond.

Phillip P. Heale, 44, of Batavia, is charged with criminal trespass 3rd. Heale is accused of being on property he was previously banned from being on. He was released on an appearance ticket.

Evan F. Maynard, 21, of Batavia, is charged with assault 3rd. Maynard is accused of being involved in a disturbance on Sept. 24 at 8:24 p.m. at a location on East Main Street, Batavia. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Justin T. Calmes, 44, of Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt 2nd. Calmes is accused of violating an order of protection on Aug. 29 at midnight. He was released on an appearance ticket.

Jennifer L. Cudney, 41, of Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, and operating a vehicle with a suspended registration. Cudney was stopped on Sept. 18 at 7:31 p.m. on Bank Street by a Batavia patrol officer. She was released on an appearance ticket.

Jason H. Freeman, 41, of Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Freeman is accused of stealing beer from a business on Jackson Street on Sept. 18 at 9 a.m. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Jeffrey A. Hewitt, 43 of Le Roy, is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, failure to properly signal, driver's view obstructed, unlicensed driver, and aggravated unlicensed operation 1st. Hewitt was stopped by a Batavia patrol office on Sept. 25 at 10:37 a.m. on Summit Street. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Laura B. Beatty, 44, of Batavia, is charged with unlawful dealing with a child 1st. Beatty is accused of providing alcohol to a juvenile at her residence on Oak Street on Sept. 24 at 10:05 p.m. She was issued an appearance ticket.

Brian M. Raphael, 34, of Batavia, and Michelle L. Misiak, 57, of Batavia are charged with petit larceny. Raphael and Misiak are accused of stealing groceries on Sept. 27 from a store on East Main Street, Batavia. Both were issued appearance tickets.

Karrie A. Morrow, 39, of Batavia, was arrested on two bench warrants. The nature of the warrants was not released. She was released under supervision. Morrow was also arrested by State Police on a petit larceny charge. Morrow is accused of stealing merchandise valued at $17.98 from 48 Express Deli on Park Road on Sept. 29. She was issued an appearance ticket.

Renee Lynn Coughlin, 32, of Park Avenue, Oakfield, is charged with falsely reporting an incident 3rd.  Coughlin is accused of falling reporting an incident to police on Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. on Park Avenue in Oakfield. She was issued an appearance ticket.

Jamie Lee Broadbent, 39, of Federal Drive, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Broadbent is accused of entering an unsecured storage room and a vacant room at a hotel at 4371 Federal Drive, Batavia, and stealing items belonging to the hotel. He was released on an appearance ticket.

Hunter Joseph Stetz, 19, of Zimmerman Road, Hamburg, is charged with possession of a forged instrument. Stetz is accused of being in possession of a forged NYS driver's license on Aug. 25 at 8:15 p.m. while at Darien Lake. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Dale W. Gress, 54, of Elba, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Gress was stopped by State Police on Oct. 5 at 12:13 a.m. in the Town of Batavia. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Press release:

Three Batavia City School District students have earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs. These National Recognition Programs grant underrepresented students with academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications and connect students with universities across the country to stand out during the admissions process. Only 62,000 students across the country have received this recognition.

• Jack Pickard, Senior: National Rural and Small Town Award
• Lauren Reimer, Senior: National Rural and Small Town Award
• Nathan Canale, Senior: National Rural and Small Town Award

“We couldn’t be more proud of Jack, Lauren, and Nathan for receiving this tremendous honor,” said Superintendent Jason Smith. “Their hard work throughout their time at BCSD has certainly paid off. I know this recognition will help bolster their college applications and make them truly stand out.”

“Bravo to these three exceptional BHS students,” said to Batavia High School Principal Paul Kesler. “Jack, Lauren, and Nathan exemplify the values and work ethic that we strive for at BHS, and we congratulate them on this wonderful achievement.” 

Eligible students have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and have excelled on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10, or earned a score of 3 or higher on two or more AP Exams. Award categories include: National African American Recognition Program, National Hispanic Recognition Program, National Indigenous Recognition Program, and National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program.

Students are invited to apply during their sophomore or junior year and, after determining eligibility, will be awarded at the beginning of the next school year. Students will receive their awards in time to include them on their college and scholarship applications. 

Batavia High School honored some of its outstanding Blue Devils of athletic seasons past at the Athletic Department's annual Hall of Fame induction dinner, held this year at Batavia Downs.

Inducted were:

• Benjamin Martino (1959): Football, Wrestling
• Paul Blossom (1968): Football, Swimming, Track & Field
• Richard Saunders (1971):Athlete: Swimming, Football, Baseball, Bowling; Coach: Swimming, Wrestling, Baseball
• Sandy (Samiec) Reeg (1979): Tennis
• Kristie (DuRei) DeFreze (2005): Gymnastics, Cheerleading, Track & Field
• Michael Chmielowiec (2005): Basketball
• Boys Basketball Team (2005): State Semi-Finalist
• Jermaine Henderson (2006): Football, Track & Field

Photos by Howard Owens.  Top photo: Sandy (Semiec) Reeg, Rick Saunders, back, Michael Chmielowiec, front Benny Martino, Kritstie (DeRei) DeFreze, Jermaine Henderson, Paul Blossom.

The 2005 Boys basketball team: Dan Kines, Justin Williams, Adam Brasky, Michael Chmielowiec, Kevin Saunders, Ballard Maye, Jon Tretter, Buddy Brasky.

He kind of hates to admit it, but the doom of COVID for most businesses was actually a boon for Empire Hemp Company, Chris Van Dusen says.

“Back then we had hired some employees, and we had COVID hit. So we did a walk-up window for COVID. And it was taking off. So we decided, to survive here we were going to open a store,” said Van Dusen, company founder and CEO. “So we had to let the guys go. And that's how we opened the store. So the store really took off … it was just the two of us doing everything.”

His other half, wife Shelly Wolanske, has been as fully immersed in the business as he has, first with a site on Swan Street in 2019, and a downtown store in April 2020. Van Dusen recently heard of a convenience store about to open with plans for selling cannabis products, and he wanted to clarify how one becomes a legal entity in the ever-growing field of cannabis establishments.

It’s not as easy as hanging up a sign, he said.

First, there’s an official Office of Cannabis Management that operates through the New York State Department of Labor. It regulates everything. That means applications, certifications, inspections, and many administrative hoops to jump through in order to be above board, he and Shelly said.

According to cannabis.ny.gov, the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) is charged with issuing licenses for businesses to participate in New York’s adult-use, medical, and cannabinoid hemp industries. The OCM is developing regulations that will outline how a person or business can apply for and receive a license in the new adult-use cannabis industry.

The OCM will promote social and economic equity for applicants who have been harmed by the prohibition of cannabis for adult-use licenses, establishing a goal of awarding 50 percent of licenses to social and economic equity applicants, the site states.

Due to the nature of cannabis — more loosely known as marijuana, pot, weed — it has been tough going with those hoops, especially with banks and credit card companies that want no part of the business, Van Dusen said. That has made it tough to get loans and revert to a cash-only operation for sales, they said. And at the opposite end, there are the certified growers.

“We currently are working with, right around 20 growers right now. So we need this. They're calling us every day ever since we got the conditional licensing process, we're on the list,” he said. “There's people who know what they're doing. There's people who don't know what they're doing. So we need to secure our supply in the supply chain to make sure that we can get products to the dispensaries when they are ready to open at the end of the year.”

What? Empire Hemp is not a dispensary? Nope. It is the top-tier guy who does all of those applications to be able to buy, process and then dispense products. The store carries CBD products, made by the extraction of oil from the cannabis plants. As for straight-up cannabis, that will get shipped to a certified dispensary for retail sale.

That extract was priced at $4,500 a kilo in September 2019, and dropped to $500 a kilo by November of that year, he said.

“So our whole business model just went, and then the price just dropped because the supply became so huge because the whole country was doing it,” he said.

“COVID actually was a blessing for us. We would be out of business, because it got us through with those PPP loans to bridge that gap because that's when we said we're either gonna go out of business or we need to open a store, because we need cash, we need to get it; our online sales have dropped dramatically” he said. “We were doing really well. But because of the credit card processing getting canceled… all of our ranking on Google dropped and we've never been able to recover.”

They built the store at 204 East Main St., Batavia, on a “shoestring budget,” and said it’s been well received so far. There are at least 50 different types of CBD oils, lotions, balms and scrubs that have garnered loyal customers with praise for the pain-relief properties, Wolankse said.

So anyone can sell these products? No.

“We have a CBD retail license, and we have a manufacturing processing license so we can sell them. There's a lot of people that carry CBD products and they don't have a retail license. I don't even know if they know they need a retail license,” Wolanske said.

Merchants that are selling cannabis products without the proper license are not registered with the state, and therefore most likely bypassing sales tax payments. The state will be cracking down on these entities to ensure that only law-abiding — and tax-paying — businesses are operating, he said.

What type of licensing do you have?

"Okay, so the first one we got was a retail license for CBD, but that one is for the adult-use cannabis. We got the adult-use cannabis processing and manufacturing license, and then there's the adult use cultivation license," he said. "So we are now a recreational marijuana cultivator as well as processor so we can grow, process, manufacture, and distribute,” Van Dusen said.

Everyone, from the growers to the Empire Hemp facilities, must be inspected for proper documentation, cleanliness, packaging, and hygiene practices, he said. Empire Hemp’s wholesale license allows them to sell products to “the dispensaries when they open up the legal ones,” he said.

He is waiting for more than 800 dispensary applicants to be reviewed and chosen by the state for the first legal dispensary license. Once selected, those applicants will get a choice of a few locations to set up shop. They won’t be able to dictate where their dispensary will be, he said.

For example, an applicant in Erie County may have a choice of being in Batavia or Brockport, but not necessarily in his/her hometown location. The upside is that the designated site will be a turnkey operation, ready to open for business, Van Dusen said.

Working the steps

The state took steps to first license growers, then the processors and manufacturers, and now the final point of retail sale — dispensaries. He, his wife and his silent partner cannot turn their store into a dispensary, since they are the processor, manufacturer and distributor. But they can have someone else come in and, as a legally chosen dispensary, sell cannabis products in the future, he said.

But what about all of these small shops selling cannabis, usually under the guise of selling a sticker or T-shirt that includes up to 1/8 of an ounce of marijuana?

They’re not legal, Van Dusen said. They haven’t jumped through the hoops of applications, certifications and inspections of the product and sales site. Furthermore, the state has not even selected and announced the legal ones yet.

His frustration is not just sour grapes that others are opening more quickly and with less expense, he said, but also about taking the proper steps to sell a safe, quality product as Empire Hemp has done these last three years.

“And consistent products, you know you're getting the same product each time, you're getting a safe product,” he said. “And the growers, before we even get their cannabis, they've got to go through a line of testing. You want to make sure that their cannabis is secure. We can’t even receive it unless it has passed.”

“It's like when I see that it's really upsetting because we've played by the rules, we do everything we're supposed to do to be complicit and compliant with the law, and then these guys just come in and open up the stores like they're gonna make tons of money,” Van Dusen said. “I think it's had an impact on our retail store.”

“So people are trying to do it the right way, they're trying to follow what New York State has laid out. And then you have this whole other group of people that are just doing like this wild, wild west, and they're just doing whatever they want to … I mean, the milligrams in some of these products. I'm surprised these people aren't in the hospital,” he said.

State cannabis law requires that individual packages contain a maximum amount of product, such as 100 milligrams per package. Some stores are selling 500-milligram packages since they’re not inspected, he said.

“These are messing people up, like people don't know what they're getting into,” he said.

Another issue is the packaging, he said. There are packages out there that are clear, which allows UV rays in that can alter the product, versus Empire Hemp’s opaque packaging with nitrogen injected inside to keep the product fresh — for more than a year, he said.

As for smoke shops on the nearby Reservation, those business owners don’t have to legally abide by the same protocols as other New York State owners have to, similar to the sale of tobacco and gasoline products.

Van Dusen said that selling cannabis is not much different than alcohol. Both are legal in the state, however, you can’t just go and open up a shop to sell alcohol. Same with cannabis. And he wants the public to be aware of illegal operations. He visited a shop in Batavia and bought a package of cannabis quite easily, he said. However, he doesn't know where the product was grown and how it was processed, packaged and distributed. It did only contain 1/8 of an ounce. 

“The products that you buy at these illicit smoke shops that are selling what they think is ‘legal cannabis,’ are not,” he said. “Legal dispensaries will be opening by the end of the year, and keep your eye out for Empire Hemp products.”

Top Photo: Chris Van Dusen and wife Shelly Wolanske, owners of Empire Hemp Company in Batavia, talk about the legal requirements for being officially involved in the cannabis industry; Chris shows a package of product he bought locally from what he believes is an illegal dispensary, since the state has not announced the chosen applicants yet. Photos by Joanne Beck.

A man already in prison for child sex abuse will have more time to consider a plea offer on the latest charge he's facing following a court appearance in Genesee County on Monday.

Wesley G. Thigpen is being given time to consider an offer of a guilty plea to predatory sexual assault against a child, a Class A-II felony, with a sentence of 10 years to life.

A month ago, County Court Judge Melissa Lightcap Cianfrini rejected a previous guilty plea, entered by Thigpen in May, which would have capped Thigpen's sentence at 13 years.  Members of local law enforcement and the victim's family objected to that prior plea deal.

After reading the Probation Department's pre-sentence investigation report, and considering the letters she received, Cianfrini said the agreed-upon terms of the plea deal were "woefully inadequate."

Thigpen is already in prison on a guilty plea in September 2019. That plea to child sex abuse capped his prison term at four years.

On Monday, he asked for a new attorney, a motion that Cianfrini denied.

He is scheduled to appear in court again at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 24.

Ascension Parish hosted its first Oktoberfest on Saturday in the parking lot of Sacred Heart on South Swan Street in Batavia.

There was beer, wurst, giant pretzels, and traditional German music performed by The German American Musicians.  There was also a basket raffle and pull tabs.  

The event was a fundraiser for the parish.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) board will consider an initial resolution for a proposed $12 million investment by 8250 Park Road, LLC for extensive renovations to the former Quality Inn & Suites and Palm Island Indoor Water Park in the town of Batavia at its board meeting on Thursday, October 6, 2022.

8250 Park Road, LLC would renovate the four-season tourism and hospitality facility’s water park, hotel rooms, lobby, event spaces, water park, and restaurant.  The re-development proposes to create 38 new full-time jobs. The project is estimated to generate $32 of economic activity for every $1 of local public benefits.

8250 Park Road, LLC is requesting sales tax exemptions estimated at $458,400, a property tax abatement of approximately $659,521, and a mortgage tax exemption estimated at $80,000.

If accepted, a public hearing for the initial application would be scheduled in the town of Batavia.

The Oct. 6 GCEDC Board meeting will be held at 4 p.m. at the MedTech Center’s Innovation Zone, 99 MedTech Drive across the street from Genesee Community College.  On-demand recording of the meeting also will be available at www.gcedc.com.

Press Release

The City of Batavia Water Department will be repairing a 6” water main on South Main Street today.  The water will have to be shut down on South Main Street from Roosevelt Ave to Brooklyn Ave.

The length of time the water will be off is unknown.

Traffic will be closed in the area of South Main Street, from Orleans Avenue to Brooklyn Avenue while the repairs are being made.

As always, when the water is restored it may be discolored.  Please refrain from doing any laundry until the water runs clear.

We apologize for any inconvenience and the public’s patience is greatly appreciated.

Press Release

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County will hold its Annual Meeting and Recognition Breakfast on Oct. 27, 2022, at 8 a.m. at Terry Hills Restaurant, 5122 Clinton Street Road, Batavia.

CCE of Genesee County cordially invites you to join us for breakfast and help us recognize employees and volunteers. Cornell Cooperative Extension friends, volunteers and members of the community are welcome to attend.

Volunteers of the Year Joanna Miller of 4-H, Eric Holliday of Leadership Genesee and Lori Gattie of the Master Gardener program, plus Friend of CCE 2022 Julia Garver will be recognized during this time. 

Please register by Oct. 20 by visiting CCE's website or contacting Yvonne Peck: ydp3@cornell.edu or 585-343-3040, Ext. 123.

Denise Glidden, Karen Reisdorf, Paula Bianchi, Lisa Ingalsbe and Michelle Woodward celebrate the expanded offerings Saturday at Blue Pearl Yoga on East Main Street in Batavia with an open house to introduce new bellydancing classes, sound baths and performances from GO Art! Photo submitted from Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

Classes are live and can be found HERE. 

Press Release

City of Batavia Fire Department will be flushing fire hydrants on Wednesday, October 5 and Thursday, October 6 from approximately 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the general area of south of West Main Street and west of Jackson Street. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected.

These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area. As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored. If you do experience a discoloration of your water, run cold water for about five minutes or until clear.

This annual testing is essential to maintain the communities Class III Insurance Services Office (ISO) public protection classification, and to assure that fire hydrants are operating efficiently for fire protection purposes.

Along with maintaining the fire rating, the test monitors the health of the city's water system, identifies weak areas in the system, and removes material that settle in the water lines. Checking each hydrant improves fire department personnel knowledge of the hydrant locations.

If you have any questions, or should notice a hydrant in need of repair, please contact the Fire Department at 585-345-6375.

Saturday was not just the beginning of a new month, but also a ‘fresh’ start for a new restaurant venture inside of Eli Fish Brewing Company.

Her nearly two decades of cooking, more than three years of catering, and popping up at various summer events have propelled Dannielle Lumpkin into her own niche as Mama Dee’z Kitchen at 109 Main St., Batavia.

“We did a test run yesterday where we did a soft opening, and that went very, very well. Just learning the ins and outs, from catering to being a restaurant owner, is a big, big difference. But we've had a lot of support from our kitchen staff here, the head chef here, Sam has been very helpful. Matty has been very helpful with anything that I needed to know. And it's just a learning experience. I'm very excited for what the future holds for us,” Lumpkin said during her grand opening Saturday.

“So right before COVID we had started the process of looking for a building, and then COVID was here. A lot of it was really rough. And so once things started getting better, it was that time, I felt, for me to try to find something to open up with. Batavia doesn't really have a lot of diversity when it comes to options for food, and I wanted to be able to bring that to Batavia. So I think that this is going to be a staple in Batavia, because we can offer a different choice of food from different cultures.”

As friends and family poured into the back area where Mama Dee’z is located at Eli Fish, Lumpkin and her staff of family members pulled golden brown fried chicken from a pan to serve. Her specialties are jerk-laced meats, homemade sauces, Caribbean and soul food flavors, but with an expansive menu that also includes a shaved ribeye steak, mixed cheeses, peppers and onion wrapped in an egg roll wrapper appetizer, Caribbean alfredo pasta with chicken or shrimp, macaroni and cheese, sweet bread, and a chicken wing dinner.

The Batavia resident had her eye on Eli Fish some time ago, since it has already served successfully as incubator space for three others, including Eden Cafe & Bakeshop, Eat Well Grill and Matty’s Pizza. The incubator concept was first developed in the late 1950s at Harvester Center in Batavia, and has been a more recent venture for downtown. Lumpkin had to purchase her inventory of food and supplies, however, the kitchen was ready to go with equipment and appliances.

It would have been much more cost prohibitive for her to do it all on her own, entrepreneur and Eli Fish co-owner Matt Gray said.

“It's a second generation restaurant coming in, she's coming into the spot that Eden cafe was in, and successfully transferred over into downtown Ellicott Street and Liberty. So it's great to also offer the same space again to another entrepreneur/restauranteur to add to the business here. Because of the menu, diversity always helps,” Gray said.

“For a very, very small amount of money upfront, they're able to come in and really go after their dream, where normally would cost upwards of more than six figures, to buy your equipment and everything that you need to get stocked up. Here, it's really very minimal," he said. "And they're able to come in for a shorter period of time, work out what their business plan is, work out what kind of food they really want to serve, what their guests are looking for, and hopefully make that leap to another brick and mortar location on their own.”

Lumpkin has signed a deal for six months, and will be open the same hours as Eli Fish: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

While preparing for the big day of ribbon-cutting and celebrating her dream come true, Lumpkin served her food to Eli Fish staff, which was “fantastic,” Gray said. It adds “another level of service” for the brewery, he said. And while the Lumpkin family, which includes husband Myron, continues to strengthen their business, Gray and other staff members are available for advice, suggestions and feedback.

“We work together as much as we can,” he said.

Business Improvement District Executive Director Shannon Maute and Chamber of  Commerce Interim Director Tom Turnbull were also on hand with congratulations and praise for adding another establishment downtown.

“This really evolved out of the Fresh Lab experiment they did a few years ago where we had a couple of successful restaurants come out of here … And this is just the next extension," Turnbull said. "I had a chance to meet with Dannielle and Myron, and the food looks fantastic. I can't wait to try it. It's something unique and I think that brings a different flavor, no pun intended, to downtown Batavia and Genesee County. It's great to see another restaurant open up. And it's such a great opportunity here to do it as an incubator restaurant where you don't have all the expenses of a full-blown restaurant, but you can learn, and under Matt Gray, take advantage of that.”

Maute has gotten to know Dannielle and has learned of her determination, energy and creative culinary skills. Not only has Dannielle now placed another restaurant on the downtown map, but she has joined BID committees and is “a great addition to BID,” Maute said.

“I’m just here to support Danny and her adventure … This is huge for BID, it is something so different. We've never had it before, and to have this quality of food and the style of food is going to do really well. Batavia really is changing, and this just goes with the times,” Maute said. “And now you can come downtown and get different food, and you're not getting the same cookie-cutter food. Eli Fish was one of the first people that did that with their different style of foods. So Mama Dee’z fits right in with the different style of foods. She's determined she's going to do well. I have no doubt that she's going to really do well here and then, eventually, we'll help her get into a brick and mortar.”

For prior coverage:

• Giving Italian Fest a little jerk  
• Eli Fish makes room for a little soul 

Top Photo: Dannielle Lumpkin, with husband Myron, and their family, celebrate the ribbon-cutting of Mama Dee'z Saturday inside Eli Fish Brewing Company at 109 Main St., Batavia; Dannielle gets ready to serve up some chicken; showing off the new Mama Dee'z logo. Photos by Joanne Beck.

Once again, the annual Wine Walk in Downtown Batavia, sponsored by the Business Improvement District, was a sellout.

This year the theme was "dead celebrities."

Which dead celebrities can you spot in the photos?

For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.

More than 420 people participated in this year's Walk to End Alzheimer's.

The walk's chairwoman Kim Arnold said when the final tally is completed, the walk will have raised more than $80,000, exceeding the goal of matching last year's total of $75,000.

The funds are used to support patients and caregivers locally as well as contribute to Alzheimer's Association research treatments and cures for Alzheimer's.

There are more than six million Alzheimer's patients in the country who are helped by more than 11 million unpaid caregivers.

The Friends of the Rink held a scrap drive fundraiser on Saturday as part of the Open House weekend for the David M. McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena on Evans Street.

Previously: New management hosts David M. McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena open house this weekend

Top Photo: Steph Call, Pete Corbelli, Steve Pies, Bob Gray, and Sharon Gray.

Photos by Howard Owens.

The Blue Devils scored six unanswered touchdowns on their way to a 42-0 rout of Pal-Mac at home on Friday night.

Vincent Arroyo scored three times and Cam McClinic, twice --  Arroyo on receptions of 12 and 58 yards and a 79-yard kickoff return and McClinic on runs of seven and three yards.

QB Javin McFollins was 7-11 passing for 134 yards, two TDs and one interception.

McClinic rushed 14 times for 92 yards. Arroyo had three receptions for 86 yards.

On defense, Garrett Schmidt had 11 tackles, Meki Fortes, six, and Cooper Fix and Carrier McFollins, five each, with both Fix and McFollins snagging pickoffs.

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Members of the 2022 batavia Athletic Hall of Fame Class will be inducted tonight and was recognized at halftime

The Senior Class of 2023 won the Homecoming Spirit stick award

UPDATED at 3:43 p.m. with a quote from the police chief.

Batavia police officers have arrested a suspect in a shots-fired incident reported in the area of 200 Ellicott St. on Friday evening.

Tarrence Y. Williams, 22, of Batavia, has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon 2nd, a Class C felony, and criminal possession of a weapon 4th, a Class A misdemeanor.

He was arraigned in City Court and jailed on $50,000 bail.

There has been no report of anybody injured as a result of gunshots in the area.

Chief Shawn Heubusch praised the actions of his officers.

"Officers responded quickly to this incident and were able to almost immediately identify a suspect," Heubusch said. "Working in conjunction with our partner agencies, the officers were able to bring a swift resolution to this incident and keep our community safe.  They are commended for their brave actions in the face of what was a very dangerous situation."

The incident began with a report of gunshots at about 6 p.m.  Witnesses reported seeing a male walking nervously with what appeared to be a gun on his person.

A man matching the description provided was spotted by Sgt. Dan Coffey walking on the Ellicott Trail a short distance from the incident location. When Coffey attempted to stop the individual for an interview, the man fled on foot and Coffey chased him from Evans Street to Court Street.

In the Court Street parking lot, the man discarded identifiable clothing and officers believed he discarded a firearm in the area.

Additional officers responded, including deputies and a trooper.

Williams was located and taken into custody and then officers, with the assistance of Batavia firefighters, searched the area, including the roofs of nearby buildings.

A short time later, a weapon was located under a bush next to the walkway between the Key Bank drive-thru ATM and the M&T Bank branch.

Williams recently entered a guilty plea in County Court to a charge of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance 3rd -- a charge that indicates prosecutors believe he possessed enough of a controlled substance that he intended to sell it.  He is awaiting sentencing on that conviction.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Detective Ivison at (585) 345-6312 or email JIvison@batavianewyork.com.

Previously: Man runs from police, gun found, and officers are seeking details about incident on Court Street

Top photo by Howard Owens.