batavia

David Penepent, a Mortuary Dcience professor, has been volunteering his time, along with two of his students, in New York City since April to assist with handling the remains of COVID-19 victims.

The 57-year-old Batavia native started "Hands with a Heart" to transport the bodies of those who have died from overwhelmed funeral homes to other states in behalf of grieving families.

Penepent was featured today in a story in The New York Times.

“It’s a godsend,” said Joe Neufeld Sr., the owner of the Gerard J. Neufeld Funeral Home in Queens, which is just blocks from Elmhurst Hospital Center in one of the hardest hit areas in the country. “He came out of nowhere to save us.”

This Saturday, staff from H.E. Turner, including Steve Johnson, who teaches with Penepent at SUNY Canton in the Mortuary Science Program, will join Penepent's team to help with the effort.

"We will be doing so voluntarily and without charge to the state, funeral homes, or families affected," Johnson said.

For the Class of 2020, the traditional rites of spring, such as prom, and commencement ceremonies jeopardized, parents and teachers have been looking for other ways to celebrate the accomplishments of this year's graduates.

Yesterday, staff and teachers at Batavia High School drove to the homes of seniors and installed law signs to help recognize those on the cusp of receiving diplomas.

The effort was initiated by Kristen Fix.

Batavia PD detectives are looking for the public's assistance in locating Nasir Nathan in relation to an alleged gang assault that occurred on Highland Park on Oct. 4.

The Oct. 4 incident lead to the arrest of Riley B. Mayer, who pled guilty to assault in December, and the arrest of Terrance Falk in December.

There is a warrant out for Nathan's arrest.

Det. Eric Hill said there is no apparent direct connection to the April 9 hit-and-run that led to the arrest of Devon Wright last night, but that the individuals involved in both incidents know each other and there have been ongoing disputes.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the Batavia Police Department at (585) 345-6350, the confidential tip line at (585) 345-6370, or online here.

Devon Wright, 18, of Batavia, has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run accident on Highland Park the night of April 8 that sent one person to the hospital.

Wright allegedly resisted arrest and damaged property at Batavia PD headquarters after being taken into custody following a traffic stop last night.

Investigators say that Wright intentionally drove a silver sedan into the victim and then fled the scene leaving the car in the front yard of a residence on Highland Park.

He is charged with: attempted assault, 1st; resisting arrest; obstructing governmental administration, 2nd; criminal mischief, 4th; criminal nuisance, 2nd; and harassment, 2nd.

Judge David Saleh in an electronic arraignment to maintain social distancing ordered Wright held on $10,000 cash bail, $20,000 bond, or $50,000 partially secured bond. His return date to Batavia City Court is May 18 at 1 p.m.

Batavia PD thanks the public for tips leading to the arrest of Wright.

Previous stories about Wright:

• Law and Order: Highland Park teen accused of burglary, criminal mischief and assault at Main Street gas station
• Nov. 2019 Law and Order
• February 2020 Law and Order
• Highland Park teen accused of stealing cash and harassing minor

Submitted photo and press release:

Head Start, a preschool program of Community Action of Orleans and Genesee, is taking applications for the 2020-21 academic year.

Head Start has centers in Albion, Batavia, Kendall and Medina, with an enrollment of 189 children.

Since 1965, Head Start has provided quality comprehensive services in Education & Child Development, Health & Nutrition and Family & Community Engagement at no cost to parents.

At Head Start, every staff member knows each child and family has unique talents and interests of their own.  By partnering with families, providing individualized learning experiences and support, children and families learn, grow and get ready for school.

Children are eligible for the Head Start preschool program if they are 3 years old on or before Sept. 15 or 4 years old on or before Dec. 1, and if they reside in Orleans or Genesee counties.

Priority for enrollment is given to foster children, homeless, families on public assistance or those whose income is below the Federal Poverty Guidelines, and children with diagnosed disabilities.

Families may begin the application process by calling the Head Start Administrative Offices at (585) 589-5683. Give your child a “Head Start” that will last a lifetime!

Photos submitted by Jason Smith, taken in his back yard in Batavia.

Press release:

St. Paul Lutheran School in the City of Batavia is accepting registrations for the 2020 - 2021 school year.

St. Paul offers a Christ-centered education with small class sizes, individual attention for your child, and a child friendly environment with a committed and dedicated staff.

We offer 3- and 4-year-old preschool through fifth grade. 

We are located at 31 Washington Ave. in Batavia. Contact us at (585)-343-0488 or at:   stpaulbataviaprincipal@gmail.com

Check us out on Facebook.

Submitted photos and press release:

Registered Nurse Natasha Smith (photo above) joined the United Memorial Medical Center nursing team as a traveling nurse in the Emergency Department, but quickly became part of the family. Smith has been busy making special headbands for her colleagues to alleviate some of the discomforts of regularly wearing masks.

“I came up with the headbands one night when I noticed I was getting raw behind my ears from the surgical masks. I am an avid headband wearer and thought adding buttons might help. I didn’t have anything like buttons that night, so I decided to poke holes in medicine caps and suture them to my headbands. It worked and the idea was born.”

Simply adding buttons to the headbands keeps surgical mask straps from continually rubbing health care worker's tender ears during long shifts.

A coworker posted a photo of her new headband to the "COVID-19: Real talk from Health Care Workers around the Globe" Facebook page and the idea was well received with 150 comments, 3.5K likes, and more than 30,000 shares.

This simple, yet genius, design will also be beneficial to health care workers required to mask during flu season – not just during the pandemic.

The headbands and Smith’s opportunity to help others have been a bright spot for her as a nurse in this coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s been a rough time for me. I haven’t seen my own children since the pandemic began and it makes me happy to know my silly little idea has helped others."

Macayla Burke reciting "Oh me! Oh life!" by Walt Whitman. Burke is a student at Batavia High School.

Keko the cat, looking nonplussed with a deadpan stare above, is back at her Williams Street home in the city. She had been missing since April 14.

"Thank you for posting," the owner says in an email this morning to The Batavian. "Wiith your help and the help of your readers, we were able to find Keko and bring her home safe."

Face it, we will never know where she went or what she did. It is a mystery.

Is it possible the pandemic holds a clue?

Some dogs, we have learned during the lockdown, think being at home with their best friends 24/7 is a wonderful thing. Most cats? "Leave already. And you're still here because?"

Joseph D. Harlan, 48, of Wood Street, Batavia, is charged with third-degree assault. Harlan was arrested at 7:15 p.m. April 4 on Wood Street after an incident where he allegedly struck another person during an altercation. He was arraigned in Batavia City Court and released on his own recognizance. He is due back in city court May 14. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Peter Flanagan, assisted by Officer Adam Tucker.

O.V. Murphy, 61, of Highland Park, Batavia, is charged with: second-degree burglary; attempted assault in the second degree; menacing in the second degree; and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. The defendant was arrested at 9:35 p.m. on April 10 after an investigation into an incident that occurred in a residence on Highland Park. Murphy allegedly entered another person's room and threatened a person with a knife. Murphy was arraigned via Skype at Batavia City Court and put in jail. He is due to make a court appearance on May 21. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Sean Wilson, assisted by Officer Jordan McGinnis.

O.V. Murphy, 61, of Highland Park, Batavia, is charged with two counts of second-degree criminal contempt. At 3:24 a.m. on April 12, Murphy was arrested for allegedly violating two stay away orders of protection following a complaint at a residence on Highland Park. The defendant was issued an appearance ticket and is due in Batavia City Court on June 2. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Jordan McGinnis, assisted by Officer Sean Wilson.

Michael L. Williams, 40, of State Street, Batavia, is charged with first-degree criminal contempt. Williams was arrested at midnight April 7 at an apartment on State Street. His arrest followed a domestic violence investigation. He was released on an appearance ticket for Batavia City Court and is due there May 26. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Sean Wilson.

Hezekiah Nathaniel Burch, 18, of Hutchins Place, Batavia, is charged with menacing and criminal possession of a weapon. Burch was arrested at 4:52 p.m. on April 12 after an incident on State Street, Batavia, wherein he allegedly used a stun gun in an attempt to intimidate another person. He was issued an appearance ticket and is due in Batavia City Court on May 19. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Stephen Quider, assisted by Officer Peter Post.

Christopher P. Thomas, 38, of Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. He was arrested at 4:52 p.m. on April 12 on State Street, Batavia, after an incident wherein Batavia Police allege they observed him engaged in a physical fight. Thomas was issued an appearance ticket for Batavia City Court and is due there May 26. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Stephen Quider, assisted by Sgt. Dan Coffey.

WNY Heroes, a veterans service organization, organized a donation of hundreds of meals to staff of the Veterans Hospital in Batavia and the NYS State Veterans Home yesterday.

Red Osier Landmark Restaurant delivered more than 150 prime rib sandwich lunch bags to the VA hospital and Pizza 151 delivered pizza to the vets home.

The Red Osier meals were donated by the restaurant and co-owner Steve Foster said the restaurant has now donated more than 300 meals to local organizations since the pandemic hit our community.

“The generosity of Red Osier combined with our organization is exactly what Western New York Heroes stands for,” said Western New York Heroes President Chris Kreiger. “We are and always have been here to support our veterans in our Western New York community and we do this day in and day out. Providing meals to our frontline medical workers who selflessly give their time to care for our veterans is the least we can do.”

After stopping at the VA, Foster and partner Tim Adams and Red Osier staff stopped the Genesee County Animal Shelter to drop off a donation of pet food, treats and toys.

INTERNET LIQUIDATION AUCTION OF FITNESS CENTER EQUIPMENT.
Online only bidding for items used in a fitness center, including cardio & strength training machines & equipment, mats, items used for fitness classes and other items needed for general maintenance of the facility. Bidding ends: Monday, April 27th. Click here to view auction items.

Press release:

During these unprecedented times when the directive is to stay at home and to limit your interaction with others, the demand for both curbside pick up as well as home delivery has seen a sudden spike.

In fact, since the onset of COVID-19 impacted our nation, services like Instacart saw longer wait times than usual, noting order volumes increased by 300 percent last week alone compared to the same period the previous year.

Recognizing the impact to these services on its own customers, Tops began working closer with its partner Instacart to monitor the situation and increase the number of options to lighten the impact.

A number of measures were put into place early on to help alleviate the wait times including:

• Expanding the hours in which its Instacart employees (known as “shoppers”) can shop Tops stores, allowing them to more readily fulfill the orders being received;
• Continuously hiring and on-boarding thousands of new shoppers each week.

Additionally to help with the high demand for online orders, Tops own associates began picking online orders to assist Instacart shoppers in a pilot store yesterday, Thursday, April 16, with more stores immediately to follow.  

Vice President of Instacart Care, Mark Killick, said "Over the course of the last few weeks, the customer demand for our service, and the sheer number of shoppers on our platform has surged in the wake of COVID-19. In my 38 years in the customer support industry, I’ve never seen anything quite like this.

"From a Care operations perspective, most natural disasters and emergencies are high stakes, sudden but localized. In contrast, COVID-19 is affecting every one of us over a sustained period of time, and, as a result, we’ve had to reimagine and rescale our Care operations overnight to best serve customers and shoppers across North America."

Due to the pandemic, Instacart has become an essential service for millions of people in the United States and Canada who are depending on the platform to safely, reliably, and affordably get the groceries and household goods they need in a contactless manner.

Over the past few weeks, Instacart has launched new features to help minimize friction and increase safety and convenience for employees and customers including:

• An employee Safety Center to provide masks, hand sanitizer and thermometers at no cost;
• “Leave at My Door” default option for contact-less customer delivery;
• Fast and flexible option where customers receive an estimated delivery window and are notified when a shopper starts to work on their order ;
• Extended the ordering window from 7 days to 14 days;
• Evolving their Help Center and significantly increasing their number of agents.

"The last few weeks have been busier than we’ve ever imagined and our Tops team, along with Instacart, are working around the clock to serve all of our customers in this time of need,” said Ed Rick, director of digital and e-commerce for Tops.

“We will continue to be here for them and do everything we can to make their experience with us a positive one.”

Press release:

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

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

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

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

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

Submitted photos and press release:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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