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Boy knocked off bike by red truck which kept on driving

By Billie Owens

A child riding his bicycle was allegedly struck by a red pickup truck last seen heading west on Main Street in the City of Batavia. The child reportedly does not require medical attention. The accident occurred at West Main Street and Monclair Avenue and afterward the child went to a relative's house on Oak Street. His father is going there to pick him up now.

St. Joe's school burglarized, cash taken from cafeteria cash register

By Billie Owens

St. Joseph's School was reportedly burglarized on Thursday, according to Batavia police Det. Charles F. Dudek.

Police received a call that a window had been pried open to gain entry and a cash register was removed from a kiosk in the cafeteria. The register was found near the exterior of the school. There was an undetermined, but likely very small, amount of cash in the register at the time it was stolen. Nothing else appeared to be disturbed. The school is located at 2 Summit St.

Anyone with information that could aid the investigation may contact the detective at <Dudek@BataviaNewYork.com>, call dispatch at 345-6350, or call the confidential Tip Line at 345-6370.

Jell-O museum curator to speak on fairs in 19th Century farm towns

By Billie Owens

The Wednesday, Sept. 26, monthly membership meeting of the Stafford Historical Society will be featuring the well-known Lynn Belluscio, curator of the Le Roy Historical Society and the Jell-0 Gallery Museum.

She will present a program, "Recreation and Inroads in Entertainment at Early Agricultural Fairs," giving the history of a system developed by Mr. Elkanah Watson that allowed the 19th Century farm communities to hold fairs. It had grew into a system of programs and events that included the whole family.

Event Date and Time
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Man falls asleep at the wheel, rolls vehicle, says he's unscathed

By Billie Owens

A one-vehicle rollover accident is reported at 7949 Telephone Road  in Pavilion. The driver is out and walking around. He reportedly told dispatch he fell asleep at the wheel and his vehicle rolled multiple times. He claims to have no injuries, but Mercy medics are responding to check him out. Law enforcement is also responding. The location is between Linwood and Asbury roads.

UPDATE 2:52 p.m.: A medic on scene confirms the healthy condition of the driver, save for a couple of nicks on his fingers. He warns that the accident has "upset some bees -- there's bees all over the place."

'Emaciated, poorly kept' animals allegedly found on Alexander property

By Billie Owens

A woman who went to an Alexander residence to buy rabbits called dispatch to complain about the conditions she claimed she found on Walker Road. According to the caller, there were lots of animals on the premises that appeared to be emaciated and uncared for. She also noted that a stinking odor was coming from the house.

Evicted tenants forgot the dogs

By Billie Owens

Tenants who were reportedly evicted from their residence at 132 147 Ross St. left their two dogs behind to fend for themselves, according to a neighbor who called dispatch. A police officer is on scene.

Fire alarms blares from Willow Hall, College Village

By Billie Owens

A fire alarm has sounded at Willow Hall in College Village, located at 8170 Batavia-Stafford Townline Road. Town of Batavia Volunteer Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 4:38 p.m.: Firefighters on scene report "nothing showing."

UPDATE 4:40 p.m.: The alarm was caused by burnt food in room I-101. The town assignment is back in service.

Amount of money nurse must repay former employer still unresolved

By Billie Owens

The amount of money that former Bergen resident and convicted felon Michele Ann Case will have to repay her former employer is still unresolved following a hearing in Genesee County Court on Thursday. The hearing is to be continued at 4 o'clock, Monday, Nov. 5.

The registered nurse, found guilty by a jury of third-degree grand larceny in March, supposedly took $14,650 from her former employer. That's the amount HomeCare & Hospice maintains it paid Case based on inflated mileage records and fraudulent "call in" claims she submitted between January 2009 through January 2011.

In addition, the company is seeking reimbursement for $7,000 it says it spent to investigate Case.

But claiming it and proving it to Judge Robert C. Noonan are two different matters entirely.

Under state law, a person convicted of third-degree grand larceny, a Class D felony, must pay restitution of $3,000 or more -- but it cannot exceed $50,000.

So, she'll have to pay at least $3,000 but any amount over that is something the judge must decide based on the proof provided.

He set an attorneys' conference on Oct. 11 wherein Public Defender Gary Horton and District Attorney Lawrence Friedman will update the judge on the status of evidence to be culled from trial transcripts and affidavits, testimonials or other sources to pin down how much money Case will be required to repay.

The transcripts are completed but they need proofreading before they can be released. The transcripts are also necessary because Case is appealing her conviction. She was sentenced to four months of intermittant jail time and five years probation.

On Thursday afternoon, Horton called four of the six witnesses present to testify. In his low-key style, leaning on the corner of the defendant's table with his right hand in his pocket, he questioned the women about their investigation of Michele Case.

Deborah Browne, the company's nursing services manager who works at the Warsaw office, testified that she pored over paper charts to verify Case's documentation of her nursing visits for the period of April through September 2011 logged to the Warsaw office.

Browne said she met with the human resources director and reviewed the information with her. When paper files were missing information, she attempted to find the information in the company's electronic database. She said they were in the process of transferring paper files into electronic databases.

Horton asked her to estimate how many paper files she reviewed. She indicated with her hands that she reviewed a rectangular box about three and a half feet long, and said it was full of about 40 to 45 files that documented nursing visits. Of those, she thinks "30 to 40" visits were questionable, but said she couldn't remember and that she couldn't always backtrack through the labyrinth and locate the patient.

She checked the paper cargo on several occasions but did not keep track of her time while specifically performing this task.

The 56 hours she swore to spending on her investigation in a signed affidavit were an estimate, she said, adding that the work also included meetings, phone calls, etc.

Friedman objected, and questioned the testimony's relevancy.

"I'm trying to ascertain the bulk of the work for those hours," Horton said.

Noonan overruled the objection.

"Did you prepare any written report of your findings?" Horton asked.

Browne said she made notes and passed them along to her supervisor. They were maybe a page long and took her 15 to 30 minutes to write, but she didn't keep track of her memo-writing time.

Altogether, she figures she spent "at least 59 hours" on the Case work.

On cross examination, Friedman seized on the inconsistency of her time estimates -- in the affidavit, she swore to 56 hours, now she says it was 59 hours or more.

Either way, Horton countered, they are both simply estimates.

Kathleen Miller, the director of clinical services, testified that "we had so many visits where we could not find the patient. ... That was quite an expensive search -- matching the patients with the visits."

When asked if she could quantify the number of patients or visits or the time spent matching them up, Miller replied "I can't tell you that, sir."

Miller said she reviewed the paper files of mileage claims for the Olean, Batavia and Warsaw offices. But to determine where Michele went, they had to access the patients' electronic records.

"How often did you have to do that?" Horton asked.

"I can't say -- hours," Miller said, adding that if she needed to travel, say, from Olean to Batavia to investigate, it could turn into "a 10-hour day."

Under Horton's questioning, Miller went on to testify that she did not put her findings in writing. If a visit couldn't be documented, there was no note made of the fact. She said she did not keep track of time she spent investigating; and that all throughout she was doing other tasks as needed.

Horton asked her if Browne had sent her a memo about the investigation, which Browne earlier testified to doing.

"I'm not sure, that was months ago," Miller said.

"Do you think you have anything like that (memo) in your possession?" Horton asked.

"I find it unlikely," Miller said.

Jodi Miller, an executive assistant for HomeCare & Hospice, testified that she was asked to help prepare for the lawsuit by searching MapQuest for mileage determinations, sending emails, faxes, setting up meetings, etc.

"How many MapQuest mileage determinations do you think you made?" Horton asked.

"I can't say," Jodi Miller said. "Weeks of my time was taken up with this."

Her affidavit specified 78 hours and she said that was an estimation because she did not make note of the time she spent on her lawsuit-related work.

Well, then, how did you arrive at the estimate of 78 hours? Horton inquired.

"One week (my supervisor) was gone all week and I spent that time (on the case) and then a couple of days before that," the executive assistant said.

At one point, Horton asked her if she recalled making copies of documentation for the former human services director and she did indeed.

"How many copies did you make?" Horton asked.

"I have no idea," she said.

The last witness to take the stand was an eight-year employee of the company, Kimberly Childs, an administrative specialist.

She testified that her boss asked her to verify Michele Case's nursing visits.

"How many?" Horton asked.

"There were a lot," Childs said, adding that she figures she spent two hours a day, three times a week on the task for a month.

But Horton noted that the company's CEO had indicated in the court record that Childs put in 14 hours.

"(The CEO) probably wasn't aware of how much I was working on it," Childs said.

After the witnesses' testimony, Friedman asked that the mileage and staff time spent by the employees of HomeCare & Hospice to come and testify Thursday be documented and put into the court record.

Horton told Judge Noonan that he saw no reason to include that in the record.

"Make a claim. We can hash it out like everything else," Noonan said.

Then Friedman asked the judge to allow him to question the defendant about her income and household expenses. They are relevant because they will be used to determine her monthly restitution payment, which is set to start Oct. 1.

Friedman said she provided handwritten notes about what she purports to be her income and her estimated household expenses but hasn't testified about them under oath.

Case took the stand and testified that she now lives with her mother and two children in Attica and pays no rent. Her home is in foreclosure. She has two jobs -- one at an abrasive products company in Lockport and one cleaning offices in Akron. During her trial, it was noted that she also receives $600 a month in child support.

She estimates that beginning Oct. 1, she will begin paying $550 a month rent for an apartment in Attica.

But under questioning by Friedman, she acknowleged that she does not have a lease signed and has not talked to the prospective Brooklyn Street landlord. She said her mother has spoken to him, but she doesn't know his name.

The DA questioned her $261-a-month car insurance payment and she said it was high because she had wrecked, "totaled," two vehicles within a 21-day period. Plus, she has monthly payments on a five-year loan for her current vehicle which she took out in January.

Laundry costs were also included in her household expenses.

"You mean your mother doesn't have a washing machine?" Friedman asked.

Case explained that, yes, her mother has a washing machine, but her estimate was based on her previous use of a laundromat, which she'll resume using once she's in the apartment she plans to rent.

She also based a claim of $175 a month for electricity on the amount she said she had been paying at her house that's in foreclosure.

"Nearly half the expenses she claims are for an apartment she doesn't have, owned by a landlord she's never met," Friedman subsequently told the judge, noting that it is all very "speculative."

The judge agreed and ordered Case to bring proof of employment when she returns for the conclusion of the hearing in November. Plus, he ordered her to make a lump sum restitution payment of $500, which is handled by the probation department, and provide proof of it.

Regarding her ongoing restitution payments, Noonan reminded counsel that the amount of the payments can be modified, but no additional victims can be added after restitution is set.

Thus, HomeCare & Hospice's insurer would need to be added as a claimant so Case can be required to pay the $1,000 deductible on HomeCare & Hospice's policy, which covered its losses.

Man accidently shot in knee with nail gun in Le Roy

By Billie Owens

A man was accidently shot in the knee with a nail gun on the roof of a home at 9000 Asbury Road in Le Roy. The fire department is responding to bring the man down from the roof so the medics from Le Roy Ambulance Service can tend to him.

UPDATE 8:03 p.m.: The patient was brought down from the roof by the firefighters using a ladder-and-bucket device and is being prepared from transport to the hospital in an ambulance. Le Roy fire is back in service.

UPDATE 8:24 p.m.: The patient is being taken to UMMC. He is 36 years old and in pain. The nail remains lodged in his left knee. It's estimated to be one- to one-and-a-half inches long.

Burnt food in Beech Hall at College Village prompts volunteers to respond

By Billie Owens

An alarm of fire was reported from Beech Hall at College Village, located at 8170 Batavia Stafford Townline Road. Town of Batavia Volunteer Fire Department is responding. A call-back from the facility indicates the alarm was prompted by burnt food in room B302.

UPDATE 8:55 p.m.: Firefighters are told to bring a box fan to the third floor and a gas fan to the door on the north side of the building.

UPDATE 9:07 p.m.: Having ventilated the stench of burnt food from the entire floor of the dormitory, the volunteer firefighters are back in service, as are the fans.

Car crash at routes 237 and 33, Stafford

By Billie Owens

A motor-vehicle accident with injury is reported at routes 237 and 33 in Stafford. Mercy medics and Stafford Fire Department are responding.

UPDATE 12:05 p.m.: There are two patients. Mercy Flight is responding to the scene.

UPDATE (by Howard): One person was transported by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Another patient was a sign-off at the scene.

Person spotted trying to take away pieces of crashed plane

By Billie Owens

A Sheriff's deputy is responding to a complaint that someone is attempting to remove parts from the scene of a plane crash that occurred in August off Brooksville Road in Alexander.

A pilot dusting a sweet cornfield spotted a wire stretched over the field and in an attempt to avoid it, he crashed his plane. Louis C. Christie, 48, of Stephentown, was unhurt.

The plane was a 1974 Piper Pawnee D Spray Plane. The fuselage of the plane was largely undamaged.

FAA inspectors were called to the scene and the accident was investigation by the FAA and the Sheriff's Office. Their findings have not been released.

UPDATE 11:48 a.m.: According to Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble, the plane's owner or a representative of the owner is at the crash site specifically to remove remains of the wreckage and law enforcement assistance/supervision was requested.

Pole fire on Kenyon Avenue, Alabama

By Billie Owens

A pole fire and possible transformer fire are reported at 7323 Kenyon Ave. Alabama Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 8:05 p.m.: The scene has been turned over to National Grid. Alabama is back in service.

GCC Spring 2012 Dean's List honorees

By Billie Owens

Genesee Community College named 633 students to Spring 2012 Dean's List. Students earned a quality point index of 3.50-3.74.

This year's honorees, with their hometowns, are listed below:

Basom

Staci Casper
Andrew Greene

Bergen

Ashley Spangenburg
Jason Birch
Luke Stacy
Amanda-Kay Sands
Jeanette Menzie
Garrett MacDonald

Byron

Reed Olmstead
Morgan Midwick
McKenna Downey
Charlotte Donahue

Corfu

Laura Holovics

Darien Center

Michelle Waldo
James Odell

Elba

Lauren Hughes

Le Roy

Corrie Doeller
Debra McKnight
Rachael Panepento

Oakfield

Alyssa Esola
Cady Glor
Zaneb Silmi
Katie Engle

Pavilion

Jamie Haentges
Taylor Lafferty
Sydney Case
Sarah Nugent



Genesee Community College offers more than 60 academic programs and certificates, including the brand new Veterinary Technology A.A.S. degree and Polysomnographic Technology A.A.S. degree, (the study of sleep disorders).

Genesee is accessible through seven campus locations throughout Western New York in Albion, Arcade, Batavia, Dansville, Lima, Medina, and Warsaw, as well as through online classes in the Distance Learning program.

College housing is available at College Village, just a three minute walk from the Batavia Campus. With small class sizes and state-of-the-art technology both inside and outside of the classroom, Genesee Community College is known for being 'high-tech' and 'high-touch'. Find out more at www.genesee.edu.

BHS Class of '87 holds informal reunion at Terry Hills

By Billie Owens

The Batavia High School Class of 1987 is having its 25-year reunion this Friday, Sept. 21 from 5 to 11 p.m. at Terry Hills. We are having an informal event, no need to register, just show up anytime and have a good time.

Terry Hills is located at 5122 Clinton St. Road in Batavia.

Event Date and Time
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Citizen soldier from Byron extends service to state and nation

By Billie Owens

Major General Patrick A. Murphy, the adjutant general, announced the recent reenlistment of members of the New York Army National Guard in recognition of their continuing commitment to serve community, state and nation as part of the Army National Guard.

Staff Sergeant Charles Jensen, of Byron, has reenlisted to continue service with the Company A, 2-108th Infantry.

Arts council announces new gallery exhibits

By Billie Owens

The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council announced new gallery exhibits for September and October.

GO ART! Bank of Castile Main Gallery, Seymour Place, 201 E. Main St., Batavia – An exhibit by Kim Martillotta, features mixed media, collages, paintings, photos and sculptures by this Albion artist. Exhibit is open through Wednesday, Oct. 31. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and by appointment.
 
GO ART! Batavia Satellite Gallery, Genesee County Senior Center, 2 Bank St., Batavia – “Ethereal,” a photography exhibit by Ann Parker is on display at the Senior Center in Batavia. Exhibited through Wednesday, Oct. 31. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

GO ART! exhibits are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency. For more information, contact GO ART! at 343-9313 or visit <http://www.GOart.org>.

Wanted: little learners for Batavia's UPK program

By Billie Owens

There are a few openings left, and so the Batavia City School District has extended the deadline to submit an application for participation in the Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program for the 2012-2013 school year.

UPK provides an opportunity for 4-year-old children to be involved in half-day, developmentally appropriate educational classes at no cost to their families. The district offers morning and afternoon programs at Jackson Primary School and partners with the Batavia YMCA to provide Pre-Kindergarten at the YMCA.

Children who are residents of the district, are 4 years of age on or before Dec. 1 and who are not enrolled in a special education program with the GV Educational Partnership are eligible to apply.

Letters/applications were mailed to all known eligible families, but also are available for pick-up at the administra­tion building, by calling Julie Tybor at 343-2480, ext. 7516, and requesting that one be mailed, or on the district’s Web site: <http://towww.bataviacsd.org>, use the pull-down menu under “District,” click on the link for Curriculum and Instruction, then the link for Universal Pre-K Information.

Applications for the remaining openings will continue to be processed through early October and students placed in the order that they are received. Please return the completed application to the information/regis­tration office (39 Washington Ave., Batavia, NY, 14020, Atten­tion: Julie Tybor).

YWCA seeks nominees for 2012 Fabulous Female

By Billie Owens

YWCA of Genesee County is seeking nominations for this year's Fabulous Female.

The recipient will be honored during the annual Fabulous Females brunch, which has moved to a new venue. It is set for noon, Saturday, Nov. 17, in the Paddock Room at Batavia Downs & Casino, 8315 Park Road.

Deadline for nominations is Oct. 1.

Criteria to be considered includes the candidate's background, interests, achievement and/or any unique obstacles that she has overcome; how she actively serves as a role model for women and girls, contributes to her community (volunteer, civic or in other ways) and how her background or achievements are consistent with the YWCA's mission. That is, to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.

The committee represents a cross-section of business and community leaders. They will review all nominations and announce the honoree(s) prior to the event date.

Cost is $25 a person or $160 for a table of eight. That includes a sit-down brunch, entertainment and entry for a door prize. Sponsors are invited to participate and promote your business for $250 a table, which includes four seats at no charge.

Nomination forms are available at YWCA, 301 North St., in the City of Batavia, or at www.ywcagenesee.org.

For more information or to reserve your seat, call 343-5808.

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