Photo: Batavia HS class of 1953
Batavia High School's Class of 1953 has been celebrating its 60th reunion this weekend. Last night, they gathered at Bohn's for dinner.
Batavia High School's Class of 1953 has been celebrating its 60th reunion this weekend. Last night, they gathered at Bohn's for dinner.
They call it Jam at the Ridge and on Saturday night, the two acts topping the bill fulfilled the promise of that title, cranking out hot tunes and kicking up some heels.
The headliner was Jerrod Neimann, who found a crowd ready to rock after The Farm put on a show that was as much party as concert.
And there was a lot to celebrate for The Farm, with Krista Marie, a native of Alexander, playing her first big-time show in Genesee County.
The amphitheater was packed with friends and family -- so many who lined up for autographs and pictures after the set that security guards were trying to hurry the line along before Niemann took the stage.
Previously: Hometown girl brings big time act to Frost Ridge
Today, Elba community leaders hosted its first Elba Community Pig Roast in the memorial park. The event was organized to raise money to help pay for park maintenance and upgrades.
As a little girl Krista Marie Robusto would watch her mom in Rotary shows and think, "Oh, gosh, I want to do that someday."
About 10 years ago, Krista was the lead of the Batavia Rotary's production of the "Wizard of Oz."
Now, Krista Marie -- just Krista Marie to her fans -- is living in Nashville and hitched to a rising star.
Tonight, her band, The Farm, plays at Frost Ridge Campground in Le Roy.
Krista Marie, Nick Hoffman and Damien Horne were friends in Nashville, all working professionally -- Krista pursuing a solo career and Hoffman toured with Kenny Chesney and Horne with John Legend. The three young artists decided to try writing some songs together.
Soon, their songwriting projects evolved into putting some serious thought into forming a band.
"When we finally decided to be a group we looked at each other and said, 'OK, we've got to be all in,' " Krista said. "We said, 'we're going to be betting the farm.' That was the little bell that went off and we said, 'OK, betting the farm,' and that's it, The Farm."
The Farm was signed with Warner Brothers and they were off and running. The first song the trio wrote together, "Home, Sweet Home," became the band's first hit single.
The last three years have been filled with nearly nonstop touring, and though The Farm has played two gigs in Rochester, tonight is The Farm's first shows "inside the county lines," as Krista put it.
"I'm super excited," she said.
"Every time I come home I absolutely remember how lucky and how grateful I am to be from Western New York," Krista said. "The people are great. The food's amazing and it's just really awesome. I'm really, really proud to be a hometown girl from Upstate New York."
Krista grew up in Alexander and attended Alexander Central School through 10th grade before starting home school. Her mother and father owned and operated Pat's Meat Market in Batavia. They were both musicians and performers and Krista's father was an internationally acclaimed accordian player.
All of those influences -- along with the Rotary shows, singing in church, dance lessons at That Dancing Place -- all pointed her in the direction she wanted to go, which is performing country music.
"If you're from here you know how country we are," Krista said. "I grew up riding and in 4-H and my dad was a butcher. I grew up riding horses, got into four-wheelers and motorcycles, and we have beautiful farmland up here. It's as country as it gets. I live in Nashville, Tennesee now and I'm always bragging on what awesome country we've got up here."
Krista is feeling pretty good about the trajectory of her career -- a career that started playing country music locally with Richard Fink and Johnny Cummings, including a series of summer-long gigs at Darien Lake Theme Park (she hopes The Farm can play there as soon as next summer) that helped her earn the money to buy her first motorcycle.
She said she's very grateful for Genesee County making her into the hometown girl she still is, even on any stage anywhere in America.
"I grew up with the Rotary shows and I grew up singing in church and I grew up riding and showing horses at the Genesee County Fair," Krista said. "I raced mini-stocks at the Genesee County Fairgrounds, so all of this is who I've become and it's a big part of who I am today."
The Farm takes the stage at Frost Ridge at 7 p.m., opening for Jerrod Niemann.
Krista Marie and her mother, Barb Galliford, with a school bell that was once belonged to Krista's grandfather (it may have been a school bell for a school in Batavia originally). It was a gift to Krista today from her family. Barb said, "Of course I'm proud of her, and my thing is whatever you do, try to do it well and with all your heart, and she's done that."
Robert E. Alexander has been suspended with pay effective Thursday as justice in the Town of Pembroke in an order signed by NYS Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman.
Alexander is under indictment on charges of coercion and official misconduct. He's also been accused -- but not charged with any crime -- of threatening a Town of Pembroke board member.
A former Village of Corfu justice, Alexander's troubles started June 2012 when a NYS Comptroller's Office audit allegedly uncovered at least $10,000 in missing court funds.
In June, Alexander's daughter, Brandi Watts, who was the Village of Corfu court clerk during the period of time covered by the audit, was indicted on 61 counts, including felony counts of grand larceny.
In July, Lippman ordered Alexander removed from all pending court cases in Pembroke and barred him from hearing any future cases pending the outcome of the criminal case against him.
The charges against Alexander stem from a compliant lodged by the current court clerk, Pam Yasses, that Alexander harassed her after initially directing her to conduct an audit of the court records and then reportedly being unhappy with the results when Yasses said she confirmed at least $10,000 in missing funds.
Alexander has denied any wrongdoing.
Further Reading: This morning we found this undated story about Alexander on the 700 Club Web site.
Corfu Mayor Ralph Peterson did not respond to an Aug. 16 letter from Village Attorney Mark Boylan demanding his resignation.
The letter was sent to Peterson at the direction of the board of trustees and alleges Peterson has taken several actions not in the best interest of the village.
Peterson was given a deadline of 5 p.m., Aug. 23, to submit his resignation or face a petition to the appellate division of the NYS Supreme Court seeking his removal from office.
It will not necessarily be easy to convince the court to remove an elected official from office. In prior cases, justices have ruled that removal under Section 36 of the Public Officers Law is a "drastic remedy."
According to a ruling in 2011 on an attempt to remove the mayor of the Village of Middleburgh, the trustees seeking Peterson's ouster will need to build a case that shows "unscrupulous conduct or gross dereliction of duty or conduct that connotes a pattern of misconduct and abuse of authority."
Actions that are considered "minor neglect" or "administrative oversights" and even some violations of the law do not rise to the level of misconduct serious enough for the "drastic remedy."
If the removal case against Peterson goes forward, it will be up to a panel of justices in the 4th Appellate Division to determine if the case presented against him is sufficient.
Boylan's letter to Peterson probably lays out the case the trustees will try to make against the mayor.
The letter accuses Peterson of:
In example cases we can find, courts have shown some reluctance for removing elected officials.
In a 1976 case, a justice wrote:
The court certainly recognizes the sacred right of the people to choose their elected officials. Section 36 of the Public Officers Law is in no way intended to interfere with this vital aspect of democratic society. Rather, this section has been enacted to protect the citizens from an elected official who by his misconduct, malfeasance, maladministration or malversation, abuses his public trust, harms the public interest and violates his oath of office.
The case cites a prior case with this observation:
The intent of the law is to bestow on the courts discretion to draw a line between an actual intentional breach and mere oversight. Thus, certain administrative oversights and municipal accounting deficiencies by the Mayor of a village, though clearly technical violations of village law, were found attributable to the Mayor's inexperience and did not constitute grounds for removal. (Matter of Pisciotta, supra.) Had the deficiencies continued unabated, such continuation could be found to constitute an intentional disregard of duty.
Removal of an elected official by the court, however, is not without precedent. In 1997, Victor R. Grant, supervisor of the Town of Lake Luzerne was removed from office.
In that case, Grant was found to have engaged in a willful conflict of interest by acting as insurance broker for the town's insurance policy, drawing commissions on the sale and renewal of the policy.
Press release:
Late August is considered the "Dog Days of Summer" and it also must mean it's time for the annual Petco Wiener Dog races. The popular event is once again part of "Family Fun Day" at the races, this Sunday afternoon (Aug. 25) at Batavia Downs with the dachshund race competition getting under way at approximately 4:15 p.m., after the completion of the live 11-race harness racing card.
Gordon, owned by Lindsay Ryan, is the two-time defending champion. He dead-heated with another wiener dog legend, Jake Arnold, in 2011 and then scored an extremely narrow win last year. He'll try to make wiener dog history by winning this event three consecutive years in a row.
There will be up to 10 heats with each winner scoring a $25 free play voucher to Batavia Downs Gaming. The heat winners then return for a championship race with the winning owner getting $100 in free play, second place gets $75 in free play while the third place finisher receives $50 in free play. The owners of the top three finishers will also get two complimentary buffets.
The first 70 entrants also receive doggie bags from the official sponsor of the Wiener Dog races, Petco of Batavia.
"It's a day we look forward to every year and judging by the size of the crowd we draw, so do our fans," said Batavia Downs General Manager of Live Racing Todd Haight.
Besides $1 Sahlen's hot dogs, soda, draft beer and snow cones, there will be free pony rides for the kids from 2-4 p.m. sponsored by Castilone Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep of Batavia, along with appearances by Pringles The Clown and Mr. Scribbles.
The live harness racing action begins at 1:15 p.m. Admission and parking is free.
The following person was arrested Friday at the Allman Brothers concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.
Joseph M. Trippi, 18, of Meigs Street, Rochester, is charged with criminal trespass after allegedly jumping a fence to reenter the concert venue after being ejected and told not to return. Trippi was jailed on $250 bail.
A trooper assigned to Troop A-Batavia died of a heart attack Friday while attending a conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
William P. Keane, a 26-year veteran of the State Police, was assigned to the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit and was attending a commercial vehicle safety conference.
Prior to join NYSP, the 56-year-old Keane served in the Navy for four years.
He is survived by his wife, Sharon, his seven children and his five grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Tonight at T.F. Brown's I met Howard Johns, who retires after five more days of work from a 43 1/2-year career at Graham's. Johns was at Brown's with a group of coworkers celebrating his career as a set-up helper, supervisor and manufacturing engineer. Pictured with Johns, at the front of the picture are, from left, Justin Stramitis, Carrie Bell, Pete Corbelli, Pete Brade and Steve Censak.
A picture of the marquee under the Oliver's Candies sign has been making the rounds on Facebook. Is "Molly Pops" a mistake, people want to know.
It is not.
A molly pop, according to general manager Jeremy Liles, is a "peppermint molasses sucker covered with chocolate." And he adds, "Very good stuff!"
That's a nominee for understatement of the year.
I stopped by late today to get a picture and as I left, an Oliver's employee offered to let me take a sample sucker.
I took my first bite as I walked through the parking lot toward my truck. I immediately turned on my heel and headed back into the store. I bought a package of eight. Tonight, I shared one with Billie. She insisted that I share the rest.
"It's terribly delicious," she said.
Batavia Motor Speedway on Harloff Road is hosting a national ATV race that has brought racers to the track from all over the United States, including world record holders.
Racing started Friday and continues on Saturday, with the first race at 11 a.m. and main races starting about 4 p.m. and the professionals expected to take to the track for pro-only races at about 9 p.m.
If you saw Lt. David Morales walking down Main Street in Downtown Batavia this afternoon you might have wondered why a man in uniform with a badge and a gun was walking to-and-fro with a television antenna in his hand.
If you happened to be walking behind him as he searched for an elusive "beep, beep, beep," your mind might have flashed on an image of an old-time dowser plying a divining rod over sun-parched desert sands.
If you were David Morales, you might have felt like you were searching for a needle in a haystack.
Morales is a cop with the Veteran's Administration. At the VA hospital, Alzheimer's patients wear ankle bracelets that emit an AM-band radio signal so that if the patient wanders off, it might be easier for VA police to location the patient.
Each bracelet is coded with its own frequency. The device used by Morales today can be programmed to listen for the beeps on that specific frequency.
One difficulty is, other systems can emit tones on the same frequency.
"This device, as far as on the VA campus, is very useful," Morales said. "It's a big area and it's mostly wooded. Outside the base, in a city environment like this, we get a lot of interference. It can be from vehicles wtih powerful radios emanating strong signals. The police station, for example, that can have a strong signal for us, and as you know from walking with us, we hit on the Verizon building and we hit on one other location for whatever reason. Those are the handicaps we can run into."
Morales was called to the city today because a 78-year-old man from Livonia with advanced Alzheimer's Disease had gone missing. His wife told police the man was wearing an ankle bracelet that emitted the very kind of radio signal Morales is trained to track.
Because Det. Pat Corona had been in a training class on law enforcement response to events involving Alzheimer's patients with the local VA Police Chief Mike Messina, Corona knew the local VA had a receiver for AM-frequency tracking signals. It would have taken the Sheriff's Office in Livingston County an hour to get a receiver to Batavia PD, which Corona, from his training, knew could be a critical amount of time to wait.
"Finding people affected by Alzheimer's or dementia quickly is critical," Corona said. "It's not like a typical missing person. You have to bring all of your resources together quickly because history has shown that very quickly they get into a situation of distress. Typically they don't go very far. They try to get into a secluded area and secrete themselves so they can't be found. A lot of times they don't respond. If you call to them, they don't respond, so you have to act quickly."
The search for Robert Tutt started about 1:45 p.m. when his wife came into the police station and said her husband had gotten out of the car while she was stopped on Jackson Street at Main Street.
Tutt crossed Main Street and headed north, which is when his wife lost track of him.
Nearly all of Batavia's patrol units were dispatched to help search for Tutt along with troopers for the State Police and deputies from the Sheriff's Office. The State Police dispatched a helicopter to assist in the search.
Corona learned from Tutt's wife about the ankle bracelet and was able to find out the frequency set on the bracelet, so he called Messina at the VA to see if the VA could help.
Morales responded and the search started at Main and Jackson.
Almost immediately, Morales picked up some sort of signal, but it was indistinct and hard to pinpoint.
He let Corona listen through his headphones. They then entered City Centre, but the signal faded.
The two men then headed east on Main Street, with Morales making periodic stops to point the antenna this way or that and listen for the beep-beeps he hoped to hear.
The possible signal Morales thought might be lurking in the neighborhood led him and Corona down Center Street. It grew stronger, but it wasn't the clear beep-beep Morales wanted to hear.
At Jackson and School streets, Morales learned that Verizon has a building that straddles the block between Center and Jackson.
That explained the interference he was getting, he said.
After checking Jackson Square, which is a logical place where an Alzheimer's patient might try to hide, Corona and Morales headed north on Center over to Bank Street and down to Washington Avenue, where they turned left.
As they headed down Bank, a reporter asked Morales if the ankle bracelet has a battery and if it needs to be periodically charged.
It does.
Corona radioed to the police station and learned that Tutt's braclet was last charged on Monday, but without knowing the brand and make of the bracelet, Morales had no way of knowing if the battery could already be dead.
The battery's in the bracelets at the VA can keep a charge for two or three months -- they are serviced every 30 days.
After getting to State Street, Morales explained to Corona that they needed to head back in the other direction.
Because the radio signal carries only two miles, a search needs to be conducted in a grid fashion -- the search goes so far in one direction and then tries the opposite direction and then will head to the next grid space if no signal is found.
About this time, a reader of The Batavian -- which had posted information about the missing man at the request of Batavia PD -- reported seeing somebody who might have matched the description on Elmwood Avenue (near Kibbe Park). It didn't take long for Corona to learn it wasn't Robert Tutt.
When Morales and Corona reached Ross Street, Morales turned south. About halfway down the block he picked up a faint signal. He turned the antenna toward a large white house across the street. Corona noted that there was plenty of area behind St. Joe's that might attract an Alzheimer's patient looking for someplace to hide.
The men crossed the street.
In a side yard, Morales let Corona listen to the signal. The signal strength was 80 percent, Morales said, and was clearly coming from the house. He said it was probably a false signal.
Corona knocked on the door and a man answered and said he hasn't seen anybody matching Tutt's description. He checked a side door that could possibly be unlocked and leads to a vacant room and he also checked the garage door and a travel trailer that was unlocked, but Tutt wasn't there.
As Morales and Corona left the house, dispatchers informed Corona that Tutt had apparently been located at the Department of Social of Services office.
Without confirmation, the search for that all important beep-beep continued. Morales and Corona crossed Main Street and once they did, Corona was informed the man at DSS was indeed Tutt.
Tutt would be transported to the Batavia PD station. Corona learned, and Morales wanted to go there and confirm, that if they had gotten within a close enough distance to Tutt, the receiver would have worked.
At the station, Morales showed a reporter the signal he was picking up from Tutt's ankle bracelet. The signal was at 99-percent strength. If Tutt had stayed in the downtown area, he would have been located.
How Tutt made it all the way out to the DSS office on East Main Street isn't clear. Logically, it doesn't make much sense that he got there on his own without being spotted along the way.
"He can't help us with that," Corona said. "He has no idea how he arrived there. All security at the county building knows is he walked through the front doors.
It seems to be a long distance for him to have traveled on foot and not be seen, especially with everybody we had looking for him," Corona added. "It seems to me like logical place if somebody had contact with a disoriented person that it might be where they would take that person, but we don't know and he can't help us."
The only thing we know is that Tutt was reunited with his wife and after a brief discussion with police they continued on their way.
Top photo: Morales and Corona at Main and Jackson.
On Center Street
Between buildings on School Street, heading toward the Verizon building.
Checking an area that would be potentially attractive to an Alzheimer's patient.
In Jackson Square
Heading north on Bank Street
In front of a house on Ross Street that was emitting a matching signal.
Morales let's Corona listen to the signal he was hearing.
Near the end of the search -- Tutt was already potentially located at DSS -- Morales and Corona prepare to cross Main Street. If Tutt hadn't been located by this point, Corona was going to set up a command center at the police station and Morales would widen the area of the grid search by vehicle.
Batavia PD is asking for the public's help in locating a man with advanced Alzheimer's who is missing in Downtown Batavia.
He went missing on Jackson Street, but may have wandered over to City Centre.
The subject is described as a black male with white hair about 5' 8" tall wearing blue jeans and a sleaved shirt with a blue stripe.
The man is not from the area. He is wearing a tracking braclet on his ankle, but the equipment needed to work with it is not in Genesee County. It is being transported here at this time.
Multiple law enforcement units from the city and county are searching the area. A helicopter may be dispatched.
If you see this individual contact Batavia PD at 345-6350 or 9-1-1.
UPDATE (By Billie) 2:58 p.m.: He was last seen on the north side of Main Street by the Showtime Movie Theater sign.
UPDATE 3:06 p.m.: A faint signal from his tracking device can be heard by authorities in the area of the mall. They are checking inside.
UPDATE 3:13 p.m.: A City Police officer is going to the State Police hangar to join helicopter personnel to scour the center of the city from the air.
UPDATE 3:26 p.m.: A light-skinned black male matching the description was located by a citizen on Elmwood Avenue. Officers are en route.
UPDATE 3:28 p.m.: Meanwhile, officers are told to check shrubs and hedges. A tracker from Livingston County just arrived at the Police Station to join in the search.
UPDATE 3:36 p.m.: It was confirmed that the guy on Elmwood Avenue is NOT the person they are searching for. The Alzheimer's patient is a dark-skinned black male.
UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: The missing man's ankle tracking device is not GPS-related. Rather it is an A.M. radio signal. Batavia PD obtained the signal for the device and a receiver operated by Lt. David Morales of the VA was deployed.
UPDATE 3:37 p.m.: It is confirmed that the subject has been located at the Department of Social Services on East Main Street.
UPDATE 3:55 p.m.: The subject is being taken to the police station to join his family.
Dana Bowen and his dog Jake were out for exercise on Bank Street this morning on another beautiful day in Batavia. The seven-day forecast indicates we should expect more of the same, though slightly warmer.
The YWCA is sponsoring a Stiletto Walk on Tuesday, Oct. 1, in the City of Batavia, and to help promote the event, some local community leaders showed up this morning at the Y for a photo.
Men need not wear high heels (though local photographers encourage it) for the walk. Women are encouraged to wear any kind of women's footwear, even pink tennis shoes.
The event is aimed at raising awareness about domestic violence and costs $28 for the walk and supper afterward (or $20 just for the walk, or $8 just for the dinner).
To register visit ywcagenesee.org or call (585) 343-5808.
Pictured from left, David Boyce, Linsey Vallett, Det. Rich Schauf, Chief Shawn Heubusch, Sgt. Greg Walker, Jim Fulmer, Sgt. Dan Coffey and Cindy Earl.
Once again this week, polldaddy.com is off line, so no poll today.
Corfu - James "Jake" Rudnik, 75, of Corfu, passed away Tuesday (August 20, 2013) at the Genesee County Nursing Home.
He was born May 6, 1938 in Lancaster, a son of the late Frank and Mary Rudnik. Jake was a union carpenter for the Local 9 in Buffalo.
He is survived by his wife, Rosanne (Gazzo) Rudnik of Corfu; loving Dad of Timothy (Kathy) Rudnik, Dawn May, David (Kelly) Watts, Robin (late Donald) Neyman, Kim (Joseph) Ebeling and the late Deborah Watts. Also survived by 18 grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren and 4 siblings. Predeceased by 3 siblings.
There are no calling hours. A memorial service will be held Saturday, August 24, 2013 at 11 a.m. at the C. B. Beach & Son Mortuary, Inc. 4 East Main Street, Corfu. Refreshments at his residence following the service.
Corfu - Dorothy S. Bartlett, 86, went home to her loved ones in heaven, Tuesday (August 20, 2013) at the New York State Veterans Home, Batavia, surrounded by her family.
Press release:
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) organized a meeting on Aug. 20 between State Deputy Secretary for Education De’Shawn Wright and more than 20 local school superintendents and Board of Education members. The gathering provided local education leaders with an opportunity to voice their concerns and opinions on the challenges facing schools and teachers in Western New York, as well as what the state must do to improve local education.
“The fact that the governor sent such a high-ranking education official to our community shows that our calls for fair aid allocation and greater control of our schools are being heard,” Hawley said. “Issues such as Common Core, mandate relief, special education programs, and eliminating the Triborough Amendment, Gap Elimination Adjustment and frivolous lawsuits were examined.
"The local education leaders in attendance did a terrific job of illustrating to Deputy Secretary Wright the need for equitable school aid regardless of geographic location or socio-economic status. The meeting helped make the point to the highest levels of the State Education Department that children in low-wealth school districts deserve the same opportunities as kids in wealthier areas.
"I thank Deputy Secretary Wright for taking the time to travel to our community as well as all of the local education leaders who did such a tremendous job showing how much Western New York cares for its students.”
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