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Ryan Duffy is 18 months into his job as director of the Holland Land Office Museum and members of the Genesee County Legislature have taken notice of the improvements he's made to the local history destination.

Several members praised him Monday after he give his annual review report to the Human Services Committee.

"Two years ago or three years ago there was significant activity and concern about the museum," said Robert Bausch, chairman of the legislature. "I just want to compliment you. The issues that we raised are being addressed and addressed in a positive way. I just want to congratulate you."

During his presentation, Duffy laid out some of the activities at the museum, which include continuing the just-completed History Heroes summer camp, cataloging more than 8,000 items at the museum, bringing in more groups to use space at the museum for meetings, bringing in more guest speakers, and starting a Java with Joe morning speakers series.

Duffy also brought back the annual antique show at Batavia Downs, which this year had vendors from as far away as Syracuse and Binghampton and brought in 450 visitors.

The museum also continues to grow as a tourist destination. Duffy said in 2017, nearly half of all people who visited the museum were from outside Genesee County.

Duffy also suggested people start thinking about their Wonderland of Trees decorations. This year's theme will be "favorite holiday movies."

"You’ve done fantastic," said Legislator John Deleo. "You’ve energized everybody including the board."

During his presentation Monday, Duffy also mentioned two recent acquisitions by the museum.  

Top photo: Six pictures of Gen. Emory Upton. The larger picture on the left is from the West Point yearbook when Upton was an instructor at the academy. The other five are of Upton during the Civil War, showing Upton as a young lieutenant fresh out of West Point through the end of the war when he was a brevet major general (brevet means a temporary promotion usually awarded for valor or exceptionalism; Upton was a brigadier general prior to the brevet promotion).

The photos were obtained from a private collector.

"The pictures show not only the change in himself over time but also his change in rank," Duffy said. "We didn’t have anything like that before. We had later things of him but not something tracing his career. We had the beginning and the end but not the middle."

Bottom photo: A painting of Henry Glowacki on a piece of ivory. Glowacki was a prominent citizen of Batavia in the second half of the 19th century and he had a pretty fascinating biography. Born in 1816, the son of a Polish general, Glowacki was promoted to major in the Polish Army at age 17. He was probably part of the November Uprising, when a group of young officers rebelled against Russian rule of part of their homeland (source). The officers were banished from Poland. He intended to make exile in Illinois but he came into contact with David Ellicott Evans, then manager of the Holland Land Office. Evans hired Glowacki, though he was still only 19 and didn't speak or read English. Within four years, he mastered the language and studied law under H. J. Redfield and he married Mary Redfield. He passed the New York State Bar in 1840 and became a prominent local attorney. He was chairman of the local Democratic Party, a recruiter during the Civil War, a Village of Batavia trustee, an original trustee of the NYS Blind School, and he donated land for the first hospital in Batavia.

Prior to obtaining the painting -- about the size of an egg -- the only pictures HLOM had of Glowacki were as an old man with mutton chops, Duffy said.

Museum staff located the painting while attending an antique show. It is etched on the back with Glowacki's name and his date of birth and death.

The museum already possessed his Polish army uniform and a paperweight he used while employed at the land office.

A car vs. tree accident is reported in the area of 9509 Fargo Road, Bethany.

Unknown injuries.

Bethany fire and Stafford and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 4:15 p.m.: Units can respond non-emergency.

UPDATE 4:58 p.m.: The Fargo Road assignment is back in service. One person transported to UMMC.

Photos by Timothy Chugg.

A car has hit a pole in the parking lot of Valu Plaza, behind McDonald's.

The pole is down on the ground.

No serious injuries reported.

City fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

Deborah Rodriguez, age not provided, residence not provided, is charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs and alcohol, unlicensed operation, 1st, and unsafe backing. Rodriguez was reportedly backing out of a driveway in the Village of Oakfield when her vehicle struck a pedestrian who was walking on the sidewalk. The patient was transported to UMMC for treatment of minor injuries.

Brenna Elizabeth Decillis, 24, of Park Road, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, and leaving the scene of a property-damage accident. Decillis was charged following an investigation into an accident at 7:18 a.m. Wednesday on Park Road. Decillis is accused of driving a vehicle that struck two parked cars and a building. The investigation was conducted by deputies Ryan DeLong, Richard Schildwaster, and Jeremy McClellan.

Latashia M. Sanchez, 25, of Central Avenue, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, and failure to dim headlights. Sanchez was stopped at 11:50 p.m. Tuesday on East Main Street, Village of Le Roy, by a Le Roy police officer.

Seth Ryan Kronewetter, 25, of Indian Creek, Eldred, Pa., is charged with making terroristic threats and aggravated harassment, 2nd. Kronewetter is accused of making threats to harm patrons of a concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. Kronewetter was arraigned in Darien Town Court and released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

Andres A. Arteaga, 20, of Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Arteaga was stopped at 9:29 p.m. Monday on Route 33, Stafford, by State Police.

Nicholas J. Heschke, 31, of Medina, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Heschke was topped at 1:58 a.m. Monday on Route 77, Town of Alabama, by State Police.

A man has reportedly been trampled by a bull and is not breathing at a location on Simmons Road in the Town of Covington.

The location is in Pavilion's fire district and Pavilion fire is responding, along with Mercy EMS.

Dispatchers are checking on the availability of Mercy Flight.

Last week, in the Town of Covington, a man suffered rib and abdominal injuries after being gored by a bull.  

UPDATE 11:52 a.m.: CPR in progress. Mercy Flight dispatched.

UPDATE 1:56 p.m.: A reporter for 13WHAM is at the location and a State trooper confirmed there is a fatality.

UPDATE 2:40 p.m.: Via our news partner, 13WHAM, the victim is 72 years old from Perry. He was an employee. 

UPDATE 2:43 p.m.: Press release from State Police in Warsaw: 

On Aug. 2 at 11:40 a.m., Troopers responded to Simmons Road in the Town of Covington for a man struck by a bull. Further investigation reveals that Roy C Bell, 72, of Perry, was moving cattle around the farm.

A family member located Bell after being struck by the 1-year-old bull. Lifesaving measures were administered to Bell who was unresponsive. Bell succumbed to his injuries and was taken to Monroe County Medical Examiners Office for an autopsy.
 

A one-car accident with injuries is reported in the area of 6151 Clinton Street Road, Stafford.

Stafford fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 2:16 p.m.: A deputy on scene reports one occupant, out of the vehicle, cuts on the head.

Mike Nolan, executive VP and COO of Western OTB, and Tom Turnbull, president of the Chamber of Commerce, along with officials from the Town of Batavia and NYSERDA, cut the ribbon this morning on the first electric vehicle charging station installed at Batavia Downs.

NYSERDA, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, assisted with the installation of the EV station.

Batavia Downs charging station is one of several stations installed throughout the Genesee-Finger Lakes region through implementation of the Genesee Region Electric Vehicle Charging Station Plan, prepared by the Greater Rochester Clean Cities coalition in 2016 with NYSERDA support. Other local communities recommended by the Plan to increase electric vehicle infrastructure and have recently installed charging stations include the villages of Victor, Geneseo, and Brockport and the City of Canandaigua.

The new station is in the southwest parking lot, near the door for valet parking.

It was an evening of mourning at The Harvester Hotel on Harvester Avenue on Tuesday evening as longtime customers gathered in the wake of learning earlier in the day that longtime owner Ken Merrick had died at the age of 74.

Merrick sold the bar after owning it for 44 years at the end of May to Melissa Kibbler and Kibbler's mother, Donna Russell, said Tuesday that bar patrons -- whom she said were like family, that the Harvester is like Cheers where "everybody knows your name" -- were also mourning the death on Friday of Casey Cook.

"It’s not just a bar," Russell said. "It’s family. We gather here when we hear this kind of news."

Kibbler wasn't at the bar Tuesday night, Russell said because she was too upset by the news of Merrick's death.

"He was her mentor," she said. "He was like a grandfather to her. She bought the bar in May and Kenny helped every step of the way."

Kibbler started working at the bar for 14 years at age 19 as a substitute bartender.

Casey Cook was part of the family at the neighborhood bar. She was diagnosed with cancer in January and the Harvester family held a fundraiser for her at the Polish Falcons Nest.

"This was very much known as the 'Bitches Bar' because the women in the bar were bartenders and the girls were always here so it was called the Bitches Bar and Casey was one of the Bitches," Russell said.

Just then a patron in a red T-shirt and blue jeans and a bit of gray hair walked out and Russell said, "This is the Bitches' boy" and quickly added, "that's not a bad thing."

Steve, she said, was called the Bitches' Boy because he would do anything for the women at the bar, help them with any problem, and a young man in a pink T-shirt with a construction company name on it added that Steve would help anybody, not just the women.

While talking about Cook, Russell and Steve began ticking off the names of several other patrons who have been taken from the world by cancer.

"This was a bad day," Russell said.

Click here for Ken Merrick's full obituary.

It was The Goht's last stand Tuesday night as a packed house said to goodbye to a bar full of friends.

You probably know The Goht as Billy Goats, named, legend has it, after a resident across the street who years ago kept goats.

For 18 years, until May, Steve Spyropoulos ran it with legendary hospitality. But after he died in May, his son, John, found the long days of trying to run Settler's restaurant and a tavern while taking care of his family too much of a strain, so he decided to get out of the bar business.

"There's a lot of ground to cover and it's physically straining on me," Spyropoulos told The Batavian last week in an exclusive interview. "There are late nights there, early morning here. I have a family at home. I have two boys who are 14 and I've got a daughter. She's 5. You know something's got to give sooner or later; I prefer it not to be with my family."

There were a few tears among family members Tuesday night as the bar filled up with longtime customers and many glasses along the way were raised to Steve.

John said the gathering was bittersweet. He knows -- and he said the customers were telling him -- closing the bar was the right thing to do, but he also knows his father loved the bar and the customers loved him.

"These are our people," he said. "They loved us. We loved them."

He said he thanked the community for all of its support.

"It’s been a great 18 years here, and 30-plus years next door," Spyropoulos said. "It's a great community. They’ve treated us great and I love them for that. There’s a lot of good people in Batavia. That is not said enough, how good the people in Batavia really are, you know.

"They take three or four bad comments on the Internet and a lot of people think that’s Batavia but it’s not. Batavia is tight-knit. A lot of good people in Batavia. All good people here. All of them."

Top photo: Patrons in the patio of The Goht, the bar is formerly known as Billy Goats, raise a beverage to Steve Spyropoulos, who died May 11 at age 66.

Photo below: Spiridoula Spyropoulus, John's mother, Jane Branton, sister, John Spyropoulos, Christy Brown, sister, and Miranda Spyropoulos, John's wife.

Dozens of volunteers converged on Watson Street in Batavia this morning for an act of mercy and ministry.

The volunteers from Eight Days of Hope are in town because of Kingdom Bound at Darien Lake Theme Park but their mission this morning was to rehabilitate the home of an 85-year-old widow, Miss Rose, on Watson Street.

"Our whole big thing is love and serve those in need," said Steve Tybor, director and founder of Eight Days of Hope. "There is so much need across America, so much discord right now in our country, we want to give people a glimpse of hope."

Eight Days of Hope is based in Tupelo, Miss., but Tybor said a satellite ministry will open in Buffalo in August. The focus of the ministry is serving those touched by natural disaster, such as residents of Houston after Hurricane Harvey. In Houston, 4,692 volunteers, over back-to-back eight-day periods, rebuilt more than 800 homes, doing more than $10.5 million in work for those victims.

"This is what we do after a natural disaster but this, in essence, is like a human disaster, where somebody has a need and nowhere to turn," Tybor said.

This morning, two hours into the work, the volunteers were more than halfway done with the home of Miss Rose, so the volunteers were turning to other tasks in the neighborhood.

They were in front yards up and down the block and on Jackson Street pulling weeds, cutting grass, trimming edges and looking for anything else they do could help out a neighbor in need.

"We're also doing landscaping door-to-door and helping the neighborhood take it up a notch as far as the looks," Tybor said. "They’re beautiful homes but sometimes people need an extra hand and that’s what our volunteers are doing."

The volunteers come from nine states, including from as far away as Texas.

"We’re a faith-based ministry but it's nine-different denominations," Tybor said. "It’s the Catholics and the Baptists and the Pentecostals coming together, setting aside our differences and just loving and serving people in need."

The home on Watson was identified with the help of Pastor Marty Macdonald at City Church. Last year, the ministry helped a Batavia veteran whose home had been flooded. Tybor said the ministry will be back in Batavia during next year's Kingdom Bound.

"We love Batavia," Tybor said. "We’re glad we’re here. We’re glad to be part of Kingdom Bound. It’s a great ministry and we’re going to do this every year during Kingdom Bound, find somebody in need in Batavia and just love and serve them."

A volunteer prays for Sgt. Dan Coffey after Coffey stopped on Watson to check out the work.

Many young men have passed through Batavia over the years with dreams of making it to the major leagues -- Cito Gaston, Doc Ellis, Manny Sanguillen, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard -- all had solid careers.

But none of these players -- nor those who never made it -- were quite like Cooper Thomson.

Thomson doesn't slug homers or swat singles. He's never had his fastball clocked at 90 mph, let alone 98. He might be able to field a grounder or track down a fly ball but that isn't really what he wants to do.

His dream is to keep the grass green, the foul lines straight and infield dirt as smooth as the felt on a pool table.

Thomson arrived in Batavia on Thursday night after a 30-hour flight from Australia, chasing his big league dream: To be the guy taking care of a major league field.

That only happens in North America and it means making a name for yourself, so when Dave Chase, first-year general manager of the Batavia Muckdogs, told him there was a need for a head groundskeeper 9,401 miles from his home, Thomson didn't hesitate. He was ready to go.

That was the easy part. Getting Thomson through the visa process took some time, which is why he's only arriving in Batavia this week.

Now his goal, to turn the field at Dwyer Stadium into the best field in the New York Penn League. He'll have help from Joe Mogavero, who has been taking care of the field during the first half of the season.

"Aesthetically, you want it to be as good as you can for the fans but more for the players and the teams," Thomson said. "It’s more playability and keeping the field consistent so they know exactly how the field is going to play day in and day out."

One of the issues with the field that Chase mentioned during the off-season was the high lip of grass around the infield, the batter's area, and the pitcher's mound.

When Thomson started work Friday morning, the first task at hand -- fix the lips.

"I’m a massive stickler on that sort of thing," Thomson said. "We're still doing work on it. It’s really an everyday thing to get it perfect so we’ll be working on it every single day, especially on game days. Bringing a major league feel into a minor league ballpark is what I’d like to do here."

Thomson became the Muckdogs' top prospect for all things turf and dirt related after Chase called Murray Cook, who is the guy to know the world over if you care about the quality of your ball field.

Chase was in a bind. He was only a few weeks into his new job as GM for the Muckdogs, after the NYPL took over ownership of the team, and he realized he needed to hire a new head groundskeeper. By that time, any groundskeepers with any experience were already committed to other ballparks.

Cook said he knew this 20-year-old kid in Australia who was ready to move up.

“Murray’s word is gold in the groundskeeping business, so when he endorsed him it was a no-brainer," Chase said.

In 2014, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks played the first MLB regular-season games ever in Australia and though Thomson didn't work on the field, he was obsessed with the work of Murray Cook and his crew.

"They made a cricket oval into a baseball field, which just blew my mind," Thomson said. "I followed it intensely and when I saw how a big league field is supposed to look on our soil that was like a trigger point. I knew I needed to work hard and get a reputation myself so I can be over here (in the states)."

Cook learned of Thomson through the Australian Baseball League, which is sponsored by Major League Baseball, and since some U.S. prospects play in the ABL, the fields there have to be kept to MLB standards. That's where Cook comes in. It's his job to inspect the fields and often his staff works with Australian groundskeepers.

Thomson started his groundskeeping career when the ABL came to Brisbane a year before that 2014 game when he was 15 years old.

"They played at a showground so we had to bump the field in, bump the field out because they had concerts or whatever there," Thomson said. "Me and this other guy just got really good at putting in a brand-new field and taking it away. So I got like OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) about it and eventually got a head job at the new stadium in Brisbane. I just loved it."

That's a level of training that isn't available in places where baseball is more established.

"It was pretty intense," Thomson said. "I got to know a baseball field like the back of my hand. I was pretty obsessed with how a baseball field is set up and how it’s made."

He wanted his fields to be major league quality.

"Where money and equipment lack, you’ve got to work hard so I just got a real obsession for trying to make it look like fields over here. I just tried to make my field look as good as it could in Australia and I compared it to all the U.S. fields. I thought if I could do that, that would be like a massive tick on my bucket list."

He came to the attention of Cook when he was working with Cook's team on the fields for the World Baseball Classic qualifiers.

Cook's staff recognized the kid's passion, hard work, and knowledge of the craft and asked if he would like to work in the United States at some point and Thomson said that was indeed his goal. They said they would be in touch.

Since the initial job offer during the off-season, Thomson has been following all the news about the Muckdogs and the team's home field. He has been making plans all that time -- about how to get the outfield grass striped like a major league field, adding a team logo behind home plate, improving the playability of the field.  

As he's said, he can be obsessive about these things.

"I know the field has not really been outstanding the past couple of years but I would really like to turn it around and make it one of the best fields in the league," Thomson said. "That is my main objective. As soon as I knew I was coming over here I was saying, like in my head, 'Batavia is going to be the number one field in the league.' That’s my main goal."

If he does that well, he might someday wind up running the show at Marlins Park, or perhaps Dodger Stadium. We mention L.A. because that's where Thomson has come the closest so far to actually walking on major league grass.

"I did do the stadium tour once in Dodger Stadium," Thomson said. "We went all through the stadium and when we got to the bit where we finally go on the field they were like, ‘sorry, we’re not going on the field. They’re shooting Moneyball,’ and I’m like, ‘that’s what I came here for! I just want to get on the field.’ "

Modern Farmer: Jeff Flake Wants to Ban Funding for Edible Insect Research

A car has driven into Tim Horton's on Main Road at Alleghany Road in Pembroke and injuries are reported.

A first responder reports "pretty good" damage to the building, as well.

Pembroke fire, Indian Falls, and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 11:28 a.m.: A medic on scene reports no injuries. Mercy EMS can continue non-emergency.

Jeffery David Torrey, 46, of McKenzie Street, Bergen, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Torrey is accused of attempting to use a hole punch to pierce the ear of a child at a residence on Ross Street, Batavia, at 7:30 p.m. July 5.

Kelvin B. Murphy, 45, of Batavia, is charged with DWI. Murphy was stopped at 2:18 a.m. Sunday on Route 98 in Batavia by State Police. He allegedly failed a field sobriety test and recorded a .10 BAC.

Temple Aubrielle Jacobs, 38, of Michigan Avenue, Buffalo, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, driving without an inspection certificate, failure to keep right, and unsafe tires. Jacobs was stopped at 5:40 a.m. Sunday on Route 20, Bethany, by Deputy Eric Andre.

Shawn Joseph Scheg, 50, of Warboys Road, Byron, is charged with driving while ability impaired, aggravated unlicensed operation, failure to signal, misuse of dealer plate, no interlock device. Scheg was stopped at 1:55 a.m. Wednesday on Route 33, Stafford, by Deputy James Stack.

Kevin Watson, 58, of West Main Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for petit larceny. Watson was turned over to Batavia PD after being released by the Monroe County Jail on an unrelated charged. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Dina Mercado, 37, of Old Falls Boulevard, North Tonawanda, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on traffic tickets from January 2017. She was jailed on $500 bail.

Jason R. Duffina, 41, of Porter Avenue, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Duffina is accused of shoplifting at Tops Friendly Market.

Kevin Wayne Howard, 18, of Bank Street, Batavia, is charged with DWAI, unsafe tires, unlicensed operator, and failure to obey traffic control device. Howard was stopped at 8:20 a.m. Thursday on Main Street, Batavia, by Sgt. Daniel Coffey.

John Joseph Caez-Gonzalez, 31, no permanent address, is charged with criminal contempt, 1st, aggravated family offense, and criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th. Caez-Gonzalez is accused of violating a stay away order. At the time of his arrest, he was allegedly found in possession of heroin. He was jailed without bail.

Anthony K. Wolcott, 32, of Willow Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on a traffic charge.

James Haynes, 31, of Taylor Terrace, Chester, Pa., was arrested on two warrants after being extradited from Pennsylvania. The underlying charges of the warrants were not released. He was ordered held without bail.

Cynthia D. Gause, 47, of Eaton Street, Buffalo, is charged with DWI. Grause was arrested at a location on Bank Street after police received a complaint about an employee arriving at work intoxicated.

Joseph D. Berry, 32, of Bank Street, Batavia, is charged with assault, 3rd.  Berry is accused of assaulting an employee of a business on West Main Street, Batavia, at 4:04 p.m. Sunday.

Reason Magazine video on wall and eminent domain.

An adult male has been run over by a vehicle in a driveway at a residence on Drake Road, Oakfield.

Unknown injuries.

Oakfield fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 10:40 a.m.: The door of the vehicle was open and the patient was struck only by the door and he suffered some cuts on his stomach. Mercy EMS is proceeding non-emergency. The patient will be transported to a hospital for evaluation.

A travel-trailer rollover accident is reported on the Thruway in the area of mile marker 376.8 in the westbound lane in Le Roy.

No injuries reported but both lanes are blocked.

Le Roy fire and Le Roy ambulance responding.

Photos by Alex Feig, WBTA.

A pickup truck pulling a fifth-wheel trailer is on fire, fully involved, at Route 77 and Route  5, Pembroke. 

The fire is moving toward the trailer, which has a full propane tank on the front of the trailer. There are also power lines overhead.

Pembroke fire and Indian Falls fire responding. 

UPDATE 12:12 p.m.: Fire is knocked down. Starting overhaul. Route 5 is closed in both directions.