Gillian Romano, right, with Mary Wilson, played in the Ralph Wilson Jr. Memorial Golf Tournament this weekend, and on the 13th hole at Diamond Hawk in Cheektowaga Romano shot her first hole-in-one.
Bottom photo, Romano with Russ, Nick Rotondo, Ellen Simkulet and Will Fowler.
Photos and info submitted by Norm Itjen.
The smell of something burning is reported in the front apartment at 219 Liberty St. in the city. No flames showing. City fire is responding.
UPDATE 5:59 p.m.: A first responder on scene reports nothing showing. Building evacuated.
New York Craft Malt in Batavia hosted a malt sensory seminar on Friday where brewers could learn about a relatively new way to test and compare malts for flavor profiles.
Defense attorney Frederick Rarick told the court on Friday that he intends to call five witnesses on behalf of his client, Richard D. Hanes, the man standing trial for the July 24, 2018, murder of 47-year-old Raymond L. Morgan.
Rarick said he plans to bring forward Danielle Case, Michael Elmore, Bonnie Cortright and Hanes’s mother and father. Though the trial will most likely last until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, Hanes is not anticipated to testify in his defense.
Case made the initial 9-1-1 call to emergency responders after the bludgeoning of Morgan occurred around 11:15 p.m. at 111 Liberty St., Batavia. Case reportedly said “That’s Ray” when an unknown male dropped from Morgan’s second-floor window and fled the scene before he could be identified.
Elmore was the resident of the Liberty Street house who allegedly posted photos of the bloody crime scene to social media before the landlord could secure Morgan’s room. At the time, Elmore apparently posted that Morgan was the killer.
No major developments arose during the cross-examination of Batavia PD Detective Thad Mart Friday afternoon. District Attorney Lawrence Friedman is expected to call the final witness for the People, Detective Sgt. Kevin Czora, to attest to his account of the murder investigation.
Witness testimony will begin at 9 a.m. Monday in Genesee County Court. Once the prosecution and defense rest, jurors will hear summations and legal elements of the second-degree murder charge before entering verdict deliberations. If found guilty, Hanes faces a life sentence.
A rollover accident is reported at East Main Street and Liberty Street. It is blocking traffic. One vehicle is on its roof. Unknown injuries. City fire and Mercy medics are responding.
UPDATE 2:07 p.m.: One person was loaded on a stretcher, conscious and alert, to be transported to a hospital for evaluation. At the time of the collision, it appears a Chevy Trailblazer was on East Main Street but investigators have not yet determined whether it was attempting to turn left on Liberty Street or was proceeding south from Summit Street onto Liberty Street; a BMW 535i was headed eastbound on East Main Street. The driver of the BMW and a passenger were sign-offs (translation: they waived medical treatment).
UPDATE 2:23 p.m.: Investigators have now determined the Chevy Trailblazer was southbound on Summit Street and proceeding onto Liberty Street at the time of the collision on East Main Street.
UPDATE 4:29 p.m.: Batavia PD is asking anyone who witnessed the accident to come forward and help investigators determine the cause.
Press release:
The Batavia Police Department is seeking assistance from the community. Saturday, July 27, at around 1:50 p.m., there was a two-car rollover accident at the intersection of East Main Street at Liberty Street. The Batavia Police Department is asking for anyone who may have witnessed the accident to please contact Sgt. Dan Coffey at (585) 345-6352 with any information.
The Batavia Police Department can be reached at 585-345-6350, the confidential tip line at 585-345- 6370.
More than 100 young soccer players turned out today for the annual clinic at the Batavia Sports Park hosted by Ricky Palermo and the Ricky Palermo Foundation.
The final day of the Crossroads House Garage Sale is tomorrow, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Click here to subscribe to our YouTube channel and help us reach 1,000 subscribers (eight more and we're at 500).
Following an investigation at Six Flags Darien Lake, Cunningham was arrested at 6:40 p.m. on July 25 and arraigned in Darien Town Court. He is accused of touching the intimate parts of two individuals less than 14 years of age.
He was jailed in lieu of $2,500 cash bail and is due back in Darien Town Court at 3 p.m. on July 30. The case was investigated by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Kyle Krzemien.
Ricardo Sampel, 50, of Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, is charged with five counts of aggravated family offense -- more than one offense within five years. On July 17, the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center received the report of a violation of an order of protection by a third party. Following an investigation, Sampel was identified and is alleged to have committed the crime of second-degree criminal contempt. It is alleged that he knowingly violated an order of protection by contacting the protected party via phone on July 13. Due to his previous criminal history, including criminal contempt convictions, the charge against him was elevated to a Class E felony. The defendant is currently being held in GC Jail on a separate criminal contempt charge. He was arraigned in Batavia City Court and jailed without bail. The investigation was assisted by jail correctional officers, including Senior Correctional Officer J.M. Smart. The investigation was conducted by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Ryan DeLong.
Jennifer Jean Greene, 46, of Tennyson Terrace, Williamsville, is charged with second-degree criminal contempt. At 4:45 p.m. on July 7, deputies responded to Six Flags Darien Lake for the report of a violation of an order of protection. Following an investigation, Greene was arrested. It is alleged that she made physical contact with a person who had a stay away order of protection against Greene. The defendant was arraigned in Darien Town Court and released on her own recognizance. She is due back in Darien Town Court on July 30. The case was handled by Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Erik Andre.
Press release:
The Batavia City School District Foundation Inc. is proud to announce their Engraved Brick Campaign at VanDetta Stadium at Woodward Field.
The bricks will be located in front of the weight room and will be a “River Red” color. Each brick is $100 (including engraving). All engravings will be approved by the BCSD Foundation Inc.
Each brick will be 7¾ x 4 x 1¾ inch and on each brick there will be a maximum of 14 characters per line with a maximum of three lines. A character is any letter, space or punctuation mark.
Order forms are available on the BCSD Foundation Inc. website here or at the Batavia City School District’s Instructional Services’ office at 260 State St., Batavia.
Orders received by Sept. 1 will be installed in the Fall of 2019. All others will be installed the following years.
If you have any questions, please contact the BCSD Foundation Inc. at: foundation@ bataviacsd.org or Julia Rogers at 343-2480, ext. 1010.
Batavia Police Department detectives' court testimony on Thursday attempted to connect the bludgeoning death of 47-year-old Raymond L. Morgan to Richard D. Hanes, the man accused of murdering Morgan in his Liberty Street residence last July.
District Attorney Lawrence Friedman called detectives Eric Hill and Thad Mart to testify about their recollections of the events surrounding the July 24, 2018, murder.
The investigators said lab tests detected Hanes’s DNA on a baseball cap found below Morgan’s bedroom window. Detectives reportedly also found a green shirt and gray pants — similar to descriptions of the unknown perpetrator’s clothes — in Hanes’s blood-covered closet at his former Thorpe Street, Batavia, home.
The detectives explained to jurors that Morgan’s DNA began to be collected throughout the city following his death. Batavia PD found Morgan’s blood on both the exterior of his bedroom window and the house siding below the room in the hours after the attack.
Morgan’s DNA was also swabbed from a handlebar grip of Hanes’s bicycle and a hammer on the roof of an Ellicott Street house. Detectives suspect Hanes may have thrown the alleged murder weapon before pedaling back to Thorpe Street.
Jurors listened as Hill reassembled a text conversation between Morgan and Hanes from the fatal night last July. Although Morgan’s contact information and the text messages did not appear on Hanes’s phone, they were later found in a phone records search by police.
Hanes apparently texted Morgan “I owe you $395. Imma pay you” around 10:50 p.m. and “Here” at 11:09 p.m, minutes before Batavia PD was called to 111 Liberty St.
Mart told the jury that he had heard loud sirens from emergency responders as he was driving on Main Street before being dispatched to the scene of Morgan's death.
Mart questioned why Hanes said in a July 26, 2018, interview that he did not hear or see responders while traveling on his bicycle in the vicinity of the crime scene.
“For him to be in the area where he said he was, I find it hard to believe that he would not at least hear the sirens,” Mart said.
Hanes faces life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. Defense attorney Frederick Rarick will have the opportunity to cross-examine Mart when the trial continues at 2 p.m. today in Genesee County Court.
David Bellavia visited the Holland Land Office Museum on Wednesday at the request of The Batavian for an exclusive interview to discuss his experience in Washington the week he received the Medal of Honor on June 25 in a ceremony at the White House and was inducted into the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon.
In the interview, we discuss not only his Medal of Honor, but the Medal of Honor received by Charles F. Rand, a Batavia resident often credited with being the first to enlist in the Army as a volunteer at the start of the Civil War. We discussed the "bubble" Bellavia was in during his time in Washington; the time he spent with the men he went to war with in Iraq;the men who didn't come home, most notably Capt. Sean Sims; what it was like on stage in the East Room during the Medal of Honor ceremony; the rush of people around him during the reception after the ceremony; what it means to represent the Army as a Medal of Honor recipient; and why he wanted to be sure to include in the events his friends from Western New York, especially the GLOW counties. Now that he's personally met President Donald Trump, we also asked for his measure of the man. And finally, we discussed his childrens' reaction, especially his sons, to the award.
NOTE AND POSSIBLE CORRECTION: We have been referring to David Bellavia and Charles Rand, including in this video, as the only two Batavia residents to receive the Medal of Honor. We knew about James E. Cross but the history on Cross, as passed along to us, has been that he was born in Darien and enlisted in Batavia. County Clerk Michael Cianfrini wrote yesterday to suggest that Cross was a resident of Batavia. This morning I did a quick search on ancestry.com and it appears Cross was a resident of Batavia during the 1860 and 1870 censuses. It appears that he enlisted in Elmira. He was discharged with a disability in 1862 and was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1898. We'll see if we can find out more.
Press release:
The race for first-place in the Pinckey Division of the New York-Penn League got interesting on Thursday night as West Virginia scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to down the Batavia Muckdogs, 4-3.
Batavia is now in first place at 24-16 and West Virginia is 21-17, taking 2-of-3 from the Muckdogs.
Batavia returns home for three games Friday, Saturday and Sunday against Williamsport.
A bright spot for the Muckdogs was the pitching of Julio Frias, who pitched six strong innings, striking out six, five of them in the first three innings. He gave up four hits, one run and walked two.
Frias, 21, was signed out of Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, by the Miami Marlins. The Marlins were patient with the young 6-foot-2 lefty, giving him two years with the Dominican Summer League Marlins and two years with the Gulf Coast League Marlins.
During that time, Frias, who started his career at 16, went 3-15 with an ERA close to five.
However, this season with Batavia, Frias is 3-1 with a 1.73 ERA and he has struck out 50 in 41.2 innings with 12 walks and 25 hits.
Batavia took a 1-0 lead in the second when Milton Smith II scored on a mild pitch with two outs, then West Virginia tied the game at 1-1 in the third.
In the top of the fifth, Nic Ready, crushed his 21st double of the season to left scoring J.D. Orr then Smith II then singled to left scoring Ready for a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, a sacrifice fly tied the game and a single by Nick Patten to score Matthew Fraizer won the game for West Virginia.
Orr forced two balks of West Virginia pitchers while he was on the bases with his unique leading style. He had the hit and walked three times and it now hitting .375 on the season. He also stole his 20th base of the season
Smith II had two hits a RBI (his 15th) and a run. Ready's RBI was his 23rd on the season.
Andrew Turner had two hits for the Muckdogs while Dalvy Roasario and Jack Strunc also had hits.
M.D. Johnson had his fourth hold on the season, going 0.2 innings and Geremy Galindez had his first hold pitching 1.1 innings of perfect baseball with one strikeout. Evan Brabrand took the loss, he is now 2-1 on the season.
Tonight the Muckdogs host Williamsport; it is Flash Back Friday, there will be Crafty Hour as Eli Fish craft beers are $3 for an hour before the game. Fans can get a bag of tennis balls after the game and take the chance on throwing one into a hula hoop to win two round-trip airline tickets courtesy of Allegiant Air. There are other hoops to win other prizes.
On Saturday (also a 7:05 p.m. start), the Muckdogs not only have fireworks after the game, but Tompkins Bank of Castile bought all the general admission seats and are giving them away to fans. There are still a few available at the box office.
Sunday is a 5:05 p.m. start and it's O'Lacy's Irish Day. O'Lacy's has specials and tickets, you can visit the restaurant or follow them on Facebook.
It is also free admission for MuckPups and kids can run the bases. Before the game, next to the souvenir stand, it is Autograph Alley as eight players will sign autographs, pose for photos and selfies with fans.
Submitted photo: The patience the Miami Marlins have shown with lefty Julio Frias is paying off. He threw six strong innings Thursday and left with his team ahead, 3-1. The Muckdogs fell, 4-3. Batavia Muckdogs remain in first place despite last-inning victory by West Virginia.
Batavia First Presbyterian Church presents: Rock the Block Summer Party! Rock out to our world famous Arise Band, bounce in a house, do a craft, and have a snack.
Come rock the block with us July 27th - 6-7pm on the corner of 300 E. Main Street & Liberty in Batavia
Any questions? Call 585-343-0505 or email fpcbatavia@outlook.com
Today, The Batavian conducted an exclusive interview with Medal of Honor recipient David Bellavia at the Holland Land Office Museum.
This photo shows the first time the medal awarded to Bellavia and the medal awarded to Charles F. Rand are in the same room together. Bellavia and Rand are the only two Batavians to have received the Medal of Honor.
Our interview today with Bellavia focused on his experience in Washington, D.C., last month when he received the Medal of Honor from President Donald Trump. David and I discuss some of the observations and insights Bellavia has not discussed yet in other interviews.
Below, a video we did previously about Charles Rand and our video covering Bellavia's Medal of Honor Week, in case you haven't seen it yet, to prep you for the video interview. I hope to have that edited and later to post tonight sometime, or in the morning, at least.
UPDATE 5:30 p.m.: When I posted this, I wasn't thinking about the fact that we have the opening of Batavia Downs tonight. Covering that will greatly delay my ability to finish this video.
Press release:
The Justice for Children Advocacy Center would like to cordially invite the community to attend an Open House at the Justice for Children Advocacy Center at 304 E. Main St., Batavia, from noon to 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15th.
This Open House will celebrate the completion of phase one of the renovation of our Batavia location.
We are eager to celebrate this achievement with the community because it has come as the result of eight years of hard work and extraordinary support from countless individuals in our community who want the very best for our kids!
In 2011, the Kiwanis Club of Batavia embarked on an effort to raise funds to create a physical environment at the JFCAC that is as welcoming to kids and families as is the amazing multidisciplinary team members. Thanks to the hard work of the Kiwanians and an incredible amount of support from the community, this effort raised nearly $200,000.
The First Presbyterian Church of Batavia has generously offered the JFCAC a long-term lease to one of its buildings located at 304 E. Main St. in Batavia, allowing us to devote all funds available to creating a space that fully meets the need of our program and the children we serve.
Construction on phase one of the renovations commenced in March of this year and was completed at the beginning of July.
These renovations have doubled the amount of space available to provide direct services to children and families and have made the entire first floor completely ADA compliant.
The Justice for Children Advocacy Center (JFCAC) was established in 1998, and is the only National Children’s Alliance accredited Child Advocacy Center with offices in Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming counties.
Services available at the JFCAC include forensic interviews, medical exams, victim assistance, mental health counseling, and multidisciplinary team coordination.
Case coordination facilitated by JFCAC enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of team members in the fields of law enforcement, child protection, prosecution, medicine, mental health, and victim advocacy and ensures a child-focused response to cases of physical and sexual abuse.
Since opening in 1998, the JFCAC has coordinated the investigation and response to over 2,500 cases of sexual or physical abuse involving children. In 2018 alone, the JFCAC coordinated 247 cases and served 569 children and caregivers impacted by violence.
The evolution of this plan truly was a community effort and sends a valuable message to the children and families who have been impacted by abuse: You are not alone. Your community supports you. We are all willing to work to keep you happy, healthy, and safe.
We hope that you will join us to celebrate our achievement, our community, and our kids!
For more information about the project, please visit www.justiceforchildrenadvocacycenter.org
Reader Paula Zack describes herself as an amateur photographer but she did a good job yesterday of capturing in still photos the program yesterday of David Bellavia receiving the Key to the City. We wanted to share them with you.
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