Stories from

When I left the office late this afternoon, the clouds and shafts of light cutting through them looked pretty awesome and I started thinking about what sort of picture I could make on limited time. I remembered a barn on Pearl Street Road that I've never gotten a good shot of and thought of the clouds and light behind it. So I drove out there, and I was right. It could have been a great photo. Unfortunately, the owners had parked a high lift right in front of it. That just wouldn't do. So I kept going and circled back to the city by way of Upton Road and Rose Road. On Rose, a potential advertiser called me, so I pulled over to chat -- with this flag right in front of me. "There's a possible picture," I thought.

District 1 Legislator Ed Dejaneiro spoke at the YWCA this afternoon as part of a candidates forum sponsored by Independent Living of the Genesee Region.  According to James Moody, 14 candidates for city and county offices appeared at the forum. Each candidate was given a chance to make a presentation and then answer questions from the audience. The forum was not a debate. Moody said the forum gives candidates a chance to learn about the rights of people with disabilities and the needs of the community. "We feel it's important for people with disabilities to get a chance to ask candidates questions."

Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer is using his time away from Albany -- the legislature is out of session -- to meet constituents and visit local businesses.

Today, Ranzenhofer did an ag tour in Genesee County, visiting Kreher’s Organic Egg Farm in Basom, Torry Farms in Elba and Offhaus Farms in Batavia.

Above, Gordy Offhaus talks with Ranzenhofer about dairy cattle.

Moody's -- the bond-rating agency -- likes Batavia.

Maybe not as much as they could -- the city's bond rating was downgraded in 2005 from A1 to A2 and remains there -- but a series of fiscal reforms caused the agency to issue a "positive outlook" for the city.

"It should be seen as good news," City Manager Jason Molino said. "They're saying, not only have you achieved the goals you set out to do, you achieved them sooner than you expected. In 2006, the city council set out to pay back all deficits by 2012. They did it by 2010."

Not that there aren't areas of concern for Moody's.

First, the fund balance isn't as high as it should be for a fiscially healthy municipality, and the unresolved contract with the Police Benevolent Association is a cause for concern.

Those two items are prime reason the city isn't getting back, just yet, it's A1 rating.

A municipal bond rating is like a credit score for personal finances.

In 2005, Moody's knocked the city for operating defcits four out of five years, negative general fund balance, high amount of delinquent property taxes, excessive police and fire overtime and the fact that the city's largest revenue source was sales tax.

Now, Moody's is praising the city for operating surpluses in all funds the past four consecutive years, eliminating certain kinds of municipal borrowing, and making progress on equipment and infrastructure projects. Plus, Moody's notes that in 2009 the city had the first positive undesignated fund balance since 2004.

"What they're saying," Molino said, "is that here in the past we faced challenges, in the not-too-distant past, but what the city council did, what we did as a community, is achieve transformative change."

Congratulations to Barb King, winner of the Main St. Pizza Company NFL Challenge contest for week 6. She was randomly selected from among the 16 people who correctly predicted that Cam Newton of Carolina would throw the most interceptions. Newton tossed three picks. King wins one calzone and French fries.

All contest winners have one week to claim their prize.

A rainbow spotted off Bank Street Road, Batavia. Photo submitted by Diane Deleo.

Suicide Corners has a reputation, and as the name implies, it's not a good one.

While accidents may not be frequent where East Road crosses Route 20, when they have occurred -- at least until a few years ago -- they've been deadly.

There were fatal accidents at the intersection in June 1998, April 1999 and June 2004. One was a triple fatal and another a double fatal.

After the 2004 accidents, Bethany residents gathered 2,633 signatures asking the NYS Department of Transportation to do something about the intersection.

Their thought -- regrade Route 20.

The state's response: No physical changes to the roadway were necessary. The DOT put up bigger and brighter signs.

There hasn't been a fatal accident at the intersection since, only fender-benders, according to Tom Douglas. He said accidents have been reduced by 36 percent.

Douglas, who with his wife, Debbie, raised six kids in a 200-year-old house (formerly an inn with a second-story dance floor) on property abutting Suicide Corners.  He and his son personally witnessed the 2004 accident, which claimed the life of an infant and two other people (inset photo from the memorial on a pole across East Road from the Douglas residence).

Now, seven years after the last fatal accident, DOT officials have apparently decided it's time to take more drastic measures to make the intersection safer.

The proposal: A $1.8 million traffic circle, a roundabout like the one on Oak Street in the City of Batavia.

If the project is approved, Tom and Debbie Douglas will lose their home. The state will seize their property through eminent domain (providing fair market value and relocation expenses).

About a quarter of the traffic circle will be on their current property, with the roadway through the area moving moved southward several dozens of feet.

Tom Douglas said not only will his family lose their home, a home with some local history, he doesn't believe the project serves any useful purpose.

"Statistically," he said, "It's not needed."

Lori Maher, public information officer for the DOT in the Genesee Region, said what the DOT is looking at is the entire history of the intersection, not just the past few years.

"That (no fatalities since 2004) doesn't mean that the problem is corrected and we should walk away from it, so we are pursuing a safety improvement program," Maher said.

But she said that doesn't mean the state will necessarily build a roundabout and that the Douglases will lose their home.

The proper corrective action is still under review and state engineers may yet determine that a roundabout is not the best solution (weighing, in fact, the serious decision of proceeding with eminent domain on the Douglas property).

The project, however, has been funded for construction to begin in the summer of 2013.

There will be public meetings and ample time for the public to provide feedback on the project, Maher said, but because fact-finding is not yet completed, no dates for those hearings have been set.

Douglas, town building inspector (Debbie is town clerk) and Bethany Town Supervisor Louis Gayton also question the wisdom of spending money on a roundabout when the Bethany Town Center Road bridge over Route 20 is in such drastic need of replacement or repair. Chunks of it regularly fall off onto Route 20.

"One of these days, somebody is going to get injured," Douglas said.

The main issue, Douglas said, isn't the traffic on Route 20. It's drivers on East Road, mostly northbound drivers, blowing through the intersection.

Douglas and others have suggested rumble strips on East Road, but both the state and the county highway department have rejected the idea as impractical.

"They think people will just drive around them," Douglas said. "But if they're driving around them, they're slowing down. It would still alert them to the intersection."

Gayton wonders if the roundabout will even improve safety.

"Trucks come through there at 60 to 65 mph," Gayton said. "Now they've got to slow down to 15 mph. I don't need to tell you what will happen."

Tim Hens, the county's highway superintendent, in an email sent Monday to county legislators obtained by Douglas, also questioned the DOT's decision.

This is not set in stone yet as it has to muster a public review process and final board adoption, but if adopted, we stand to lose funding for three bridge projects in the immediate TIP period covering 2011-14. This may only be the tip of the iceberg if new transportation reauthorization is not clear by the end of the year.

I did find it odd that they decided to keep the NEW Rt 20/East Rd (Suicide Corners) roundabout in the plan versus EXISTING bridges that are deteriorating. I know there has been loss of life at this corner, but not sure the roundabout is a popular solution with many local people.

Maher said, however, that the funding sources for bridges are different than the funding sources for intersection improvements. If an improvement -- roundabout or not -- for Suicide Corners isn't approved, then the $1.8 million slated for the project will just go to another intersection in the Genesee Region in need of improvement.

Sheriff Gary Maha, who attended a May 24 meeting with the DOT where the plan was first presented said he will leave the decision about how to improve safety to the experts, but he does know the state is increasingly using roundabouts throughout the state to improve safety on major roadways. He just visited two in Saratoga Springs.

"There's been a lot of serious accidents there over the years," Maha said. "I support anything that could improve safety in the area, certainly."

Workers have been busy the past few days chiseling out the mortar between the bricks of the First Presbyterian Church on East Main Street, Batavia, in preparation for replacing the mortar.

The project is one of many being undertaken by the church as part of a $650,000 capital improvement project, according to Pastor Roula Alkhouri.

The money was raised during a fundraising drive this spring.

Projects include renovating the fellowship hall, asbestos removal from the basement, work on the foundation and repaving the parking lot, among several other projects to help preserve the building.

A man driving a Ford van lost control of it while on North Byron Road, Elba, this morning, causing it to go into a ditch and overturn.

The driver, Elmer Perez-Garcia, 17, of Morristown, Tenn., suffered only minor injuries in the accident and did not require hospital treatment.

Perez-Garcia was cited for alleged failure to maintain lane and driving without a license.

A witness told Deputy Chris Parker that he saw Perez-Garcia's van cross into the eastbound lane and the driver appeared to be "doing something" inside the van prior to losing control.

Press release:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center’s (GCEDC) Advanced Manufacturing and Nano-Technology Certificate training program has passed the halfway point and 24 students are on track to graduate on Nov. 18, 2011. Students have engaged in classroom work at Genesee Community College (GCC) and hands-on training at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

“Going to RIT was one of the most exciting days so far, Statistical Processing Control was fascinating,” said Dawn Hart, program participant. “Finally I understand how some of the formulas we learned during statistics class can be applied to the manufacturing process."

The Advanced Manufacturing and Nano-Technology program is funded by a grant from the New York State Office of Community Renewal and is free to the current participants. The training program is designed to prepare participants for entry level manufacturing positions by introducing them to the skill sets necessary to succeed in a high-tech and advanced- manufacturing environment. GCEDC, in conjunction with GCC and RIT have developed the program in an effort to bridge the gap between employers and prospective employees.

Not only are the students learning lean manufacturing, blueprint reading, CAD, programmable systems and other core skills, but they have the opportunity to tour local manufacturing operations and hear from industry experts. Greatbach Medical, Automotive Corp., Liberty Pumps, Syntec Optics, Sigma LLC, and Alpina Foods have all participated in the training program, connecting with students and further validating the need for this type of training. 

“I was pleasantly surprised with the type of questions asked by the class when I had completed the condensed employee orientation presentation,” said Doug Smith, plant manager at Automotive Corp. in Batavia. “I believe that the class represents an excellent first group for the launch of the program and their efforts will result in contributing to the future of the program."

Successful program participants will earn a certificate in Advanced Manufacturing and Nano-Technology and have an opportunity to meet with local employers at the conclusion of the program. Participants will be surveyed in the future to gain further insight into the program’s success in placing persons into jobs, or fostering an interest in an individual to continue in this field of study. 

With many local manufacturers expressing an interest in the graduates of this program, the GCEDC, in conjunction with GCC and RIT, will continue to seek funding for this certificate program.

A man with ties to both Wyoming and Genesee counties, who is wanted in Florida, may be in the area according to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office.

A car from Florida that may have been brought to the area by Michael Jay Finch was located Tuesday in the Village of Wyoming.

The car was reported stolen in Florida.

Finch is wanted on a battery by strangulation charge by the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

The 32-year-old Finch is described as 5'6" tall, 180 lbs., with a shaved or bald head.

Finch should be considered dangerous, the Sheriff's Office said.

Anybody with information about Finch should call 9-1-1 immediately.

UPDATE: According to Sheriff Gary Maha, Finch has been taken into custody. Finch was spotted by a Wyoming County Sheriff's Deputy exiting a cemetery in the Village of Wyoming. At the time of his arrest, Finch allegedly possessed a kitchen knife and pepper spray.

Smoking wires are reported in the area of 9352 Snipery Road, Corfu.

The wires are down and between the residence and the railroad tracks.

Corfu Fire Department is being dispatched.

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A driver involved in a single-car accident shortly after 2 a.m., Tuesday, that destroyed a telephone pole on South Jackson Street has been charged with DWI.

David M. Hagen, 23, of 22 Williams St., Batavia, faces additional charges of failure to keep right, passing a stop sign, leaving the scene of an accident and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Police located Hagan at his residence after he fled the scene on foot. When he returned about 15 minutes later, he immediately started picking up some sports equipment that had been thrown from the car. He told an officer, "I didn't think I was going that fast, but I guess I was."

Hagen, who complained of back pain and was transported to a hospital by his mother, was arrested by Officer Eric Dibble once Dibble completed his investigation.

Following arraignment in Batavia City Court, Hagen was released and is scheduled to reappear in court on Nov. 9.

(Initial Report)

Press release:

Effective Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 the hours for the school crossing guard located at the intersection of routes 5 and 19 will change. The crossing guard will be at that location from 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. in the morning and 2:45 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday when school is in session.  This change does not affect the crossing guards located at the Wolcott Street or North Street intersections.

Within days, the Town of Batavia will complete the purchase of 19 acres of land from the City of Batavia ostensibly to clear the way for a new courts facility.

The facility, the story line has gone, would enable the Town of Batavia to merge court functions with the towns of Oakfield and Elba.

What has been little known while this process has gone forward is that neither Oakfield nor Elba ever agreed to such a court consolidation.

In fact, the Oakfield Town Board voted several months ago to reject court consolidation with Batavia.

As for Elba, the board has never taken action to either approve or disapprove consolidation, but the town did apply for and receive a $10,000 state grant to remodel its court bench a year ago and invested another $5,000 of town money in other courtroom upgrades.

Greg Post, supervisor for the Town of Batavia, said that two years ago, when the project was first proposed, there was more momentum behind the idea of consolidation, but over time the other towns have shifted gears.

It's not even a project, he said, that he's paid much attention to recently.

"It's off the top of the pile of my (to-do) list," Post said. "I have a fire district contract to deal with, a budget, infrastructure issues, Alpina coming in. This is something that will be considered in time, but I have other projects to deal with."

Although it's not at the top of Post's to-do list, it is apparently high on the town attorney's list.

On Tuesday, Batavia City Manager Jason Moliono said he had spoke with the town's attorney that day.

"I've been corresponding with the attorney and everything seems to be in place for us to sign the purchase agreement in the next couple of days and then proceed to escrow," Molino said.

The town is paying $150,000 for the property and one of the conditions of the purchase is that the town build a $140,000 sidewalk on Park Road and Richmond Avenue.

At a time when the idea of consolidation between the town and city is still, at least technically, an unresolved issue, City Council President Marianne Clattenburg -- the only council member to vote against selling the 19 acres to the town -- questions why the project has proceeded as far as it has.

She had no idea until Tuesday evening that neither Oakfield nor Elba had signed off on a court consolidation proposal.

"The wise course of action is to put these plans on hold until the citizens vote on consolidation," Clattenburg said. "Why expend any amount of dollars on this until then?"

The city has a fairly new court in the Genesee County Court building on at 10 W. Main St.

Post said that with or without consolidation, the town needs a new court facility.  The current Town Hall, opened about seven years ago, is running out of office space, Post said.

The town board considered expanding the building, but decided it made more sense to build a new court facility.

"I feel strongly that unless something has changed that I don't know about, we will need to expand  space for our courts and it would be beneficial for our communities," Post said.

About the time the town was making its decision to build a new court facility, Post said he heard that Oakfield and Elba had talked about consolidating. He said it made sense to offer those towns the opportunity to move its courts to the new town court building.

In this same time period, Post said, he heard the chamber of commerce was looking for a new facility, so space was offered to the chamber as well.

The site selected is bounded on two sides by Park Road and just west of Oak Street. It's a wetlands area with an open pond popular with ducks and geese that is nearly hidden from view and hard for people to access. The city acquired the land from the federal government in 1968 and in order to get approval from the Veterans Administration to buy the land, the town had to agree to protect and mitigate the wetlands and build the sidewalks on Park and Richmond.

"We elected to make the purchase and offer the facility up to other communities as an opportunity," Post said.

While Oakfield Town Supervisor Micheal Cianfrini believes town court consolidation is likely and even beneficial, Oakfield, he said, will not consolidate with Batavia.

He said the town board decided Batavia wasn't a good fit with Oakfield. It would make more sense, he said, to consolidate with towns closer to Oakfield's size, such as Alabama and Elba.

Press release from the Genesee County Health Department:

Batavia, N.Y. (Oct. 14, 2011) -- A Genesee County death from listeria is connected with a nationwide listeria outbreak. Genesee County health officials said the death of an elderly person with underlying health conditions is linked to the outbreak tied to Colorado cantaloupes. This is the second confirmed case in New York State; the first confirmed case involved an elderly individual from Ontario County.  

More than 120 people, in 25 other states, have become infected with the listeria bacterial strain linked to the Rocky Ford cantaloupes from Jensen Farms in Colorado. Including both the Genesee and Ontario county cases, 25 people have died nationwide.

Listeriosis is caused by the bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes. This organism has been found in a variety of raw foods, such as uncooked meats and vegetables, as well as in foods that become contaminated after cooking or processing.

Listeria can cause serious illness and sometimes be fatal in older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and those individuals with weakened immune systems.

Symptoms include fever, intense headache, nausea, vomiting and signs of meningeal irritation. In most cases, listeria infection causes fever and influenza-like symptoms resembling many other illnesses. Individuals who have experienced any symptoms of listeria should contact a doctor or other health care provider. 

Listeria has a variable incubation period. It can range from three to 70 days, but symptoms usually appear within a month.

Additional information:
• On September 14, 2011 Jensen Farms in Colorado voluntarily recalled Rocky Ford Cantaloupe.
• Cantaloupes not from Jensen Farms are safe to eat.
• If consumers are uncertain about the source of a cantaloupe for purchase, they should ask the grocery store. When it doubt – throw it out. 
• More information can be found at the CDC Multistate Outbreak of Listeriosis of Website.