Stories from

A car has reportedly hit a tree in the area of 1059 Lewiston Road, Alabama.

There are possible injuries.

Alabama Fire and Mercy EMS being dispatched.

UPDATE 10:30 a.m.: A second ambulance requested to the scene.

View Larger Map

"A squirrel did it," according to a fire chief on scene at Clay and Myrtle in Le Roy.

A caller reported a loud noise and suspected a transformer blew.

There was no sparking, however, though one caller reported a brief power outage.

Le Roy Fire responded and investigated.

No lines down. No fire.

All units back in service.

In the late 1970s, the big issue in Genesee County was, should taxpayers fund the construction of a new jail.

According to former Sheriff Doug Call, now a Stafford town justice, the family court judge of the time, Charles Graney, wrote a letter to the editor that said something like, "You can either be the last county in the nation to build a 90-bed maximum security jail, or you can be the first to try to keep people out of jail by holding offenders accountable."

Call, a former JAG in the Air Force, a former seminarian and an attorney working for the County Attorney's office, would tell anybody who would listen that the criminal justice system was broken. The county didn't need a new jail. It needed to try alternatives to incarceration to limit the jail population and save taxpayers money.

The sheriff at the time wasn't buying it.

"We've tried alternatives to incarceration and they don't work," the sheriff told the County Legislature.

Finally, Call said, people told him to put his money where his mouth is and run for sheriff.

So, he did.

Call ran as a Democrat, pushing the idea of restorative justice, a radical notion at the time, to Genesee County's mostly Republican voters.

It was simple, Call said. If you lock a guy up, he gets out in six months or a year and has learned nothing, paid back nothing and his crime victims are left without recourse.

He traveled around the county and told the story of a young lady who lost both of her legs in an accident and the 20-year-old young man who caused the accident was given only a year in jail. Neither of the young people were well covered by insurance. At the end of his year in jail, the young man moved to Rochester for a $10-an-hour job. The young woman had no legs, no help, no prospects and medical bills she couldn't afford to pay.

"The system broke down in her case," Call said he told his audiences. "We didn't make him constructively responsible for his crime. It's about time we try something different."

People's heads would start to nod, Call said. The idea of holding criminals accountable instead of just warehousing them with a cot and three squares went over well with Genesee County's conservative voters.

Call was a Democrat who never carried a gun, didn't wear a badge and had ideas about the justice system that weren't being tried anywhere else in the nation. But he beat an incumbent and became sheriff in 1980.

Up until then, the criminal justice system was one focused on apprehension of suspected criminals and punishment of wrongdoers. Convicts were rarely given a chance for substance-abuse treatment or work-release programs so they could stay employed. They did nothing to make amends to the community or the people they hurt.

Victims were forgotten, no statements in court, no restitution for losses -- they were lucky if they knew the outcome of the court case from reading it in the paper.

Around this time, some faith-based groups were talking about a different approach to criminal justice. They called it "restorative justice." It's based on the Biblical principle of seeking forgiveness and offering restitution when you've harmed another person.

In Genesee County, Call said, the time was fortuitous to look at a different way of doing justice. He was the new sheriff in town, but he wasn't the only member of the legal community feeling dissatisfied with the lock-'em-up-and-bail-'em-out tradition.

Call was among a group of reformers that included Graney, Director of Probation Tom Gillis and County Judge Glen Morton.

The four men began to work on a plan to develop a program that would require community service from non-violent offenders.

They learned of a charity group in New Jersey looking to fund a criminal justice reform program. They applied for money from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and received a grant.

The grant came with two stipulations -- that the program show results, and that it be supervised by a law enforcement agency.

Another young man with reform on his mind -- also a former seminary student -- worked in the probation department.

He thought offenders should do some good for the community rather than just be a drain on taxpayers while sitting in jail.

But when Call, Graney, Morter and Gillis came to Dennis Wittman and asked him to take charge of a new community service program, Wittman said no.

They asked again. Same answer.

Wittman was Bethany's town supervisor, and had been for about 10 years, and he felt like being supervisor was a second full-time job. The last thing he needed was to be the founding director of some program nobody knew would work or last.

Then one day in 1981, Wittman was summoned to his supervisor's office. There he found Gillis, his boss, Call, Graney and Morton.

"I could see they were going to pound away on me," Wittman recalled. "I said, 'OK, I'll give it a try.'"

The new division reported to the sheriff, but representatives of the foundation were concerned that if Wittman sat in an office with a lot of detectives, their attitudes about offenders -- that they were just no good and couldn't be helped -- would rub off on him.

Wittman was given a chair, a typewriter and a small desk in the county's law library. He had no staff and there was no precedent for what he was about to do. He had to create from scratch everything to do his job, including the forms judges would use to assign offenders to community service.

Soon, however, 120 community groups signed up to provide volunteer jobs to thoroughly screened, non-violent offenders.

Offenders put into the program were asked to paint churches, mop hospital floors, file library books and clean up parks, among a myriad of other tasks. 

By the time Wittman retired in 2006, 4,959 offenders had performed community service, doing 356,858 hours of unpaid work.

The alternative to jail had also saved county taxpayers more than $5.9 million because  those offenders weren't in jail for the 60,000 days they would have served otherwise.

But community service alone wasn't enough for Wittman.

He also thought about the victims. He also thought about the offenders who were given no opportunity to make amends or learn just how much they might have hurt another person.

"He was creative," Call said. "He would make me nervous."

Wittman wanted to try things that would help keep even violent offenders out of jail, or reduce their sentences. The last thing Call needed from a program he supervised as an elected official, was some violent offender committing another crime while out of jail.

But Wittman persisted. He applied for more grants -- during his tenure, Wittman brought in more than $6 million to expand and fund Genesee Justice -- and implmented new programs.

These included:

• Victim's Assistance
• Judicial Diversion
• Justice for Children
• Child Advocacy
• Justice for Women
• Release Under Supervision (a Probation Department program until 2002)
• DWI-Conditional Discharge (a brainchild of District Attorney Lawrence Friedman)

But it would be restorative justice that would grab national headlines, making both   Dennis Wittman and Genesee Justice household names in the restorative justice community.

Wittman has spoken to criminal justice and restorative justice groups in 40 states plus Japan and Canada. He received another 2,500 invitations to speak in Europe that he was unable to accept.

Even County Manager Jay Gsell, the author of a county budget proposal that will close the book on Genesee Justice, has previously recognized the work of Wittman's pioneering efforts.

"We don’t hear a lot (of complaints)" from the community," Gsell said in an interview several years ago.

... (Gsell) sees (this) as a “sort of testimonial to the success” of Genesee Justice. If it weren’t working, “I think we would hear what I’d call the strict constructionist saying, ‘Look at all these bleeding-heart liberals. Crime is running rampant in the streets of Genesee County and Batavia, and all these miscreants are out on the streets; we can’t deal with this; let’s lock everybody down,’" he says. “We’re not hearing that.”

The success stories related to Genesee Justice could fill a book, but only a few have been told.

There is the story of Joseph Minotti, a chronic drunken driver given a chance, after his seventh arrest, a felony charge this time, at rehabilitation. Eventually, Minotti would move to Erie County, remain clean and sober and start his own business.

Or "Ryan" and "Toby," two teens who trashed some school property and were given a chance to make amends.

Wittman recalled the story of a Le Roy teen, high on drugs, who shot and wounded another youth on Main Street. Wittman organized a community reconciliation meeting at a church in Le Roy. There was a spectrum of community members, plus the offender, the victim and the parents.

They talked through what happened. The young man heard firsthand how his crime affected his victim and the community. He agreed to get help for his drug problems.

TV journalist Geraldo Rivera heard about the intervention and invited Wittman, Judge Morton, the offender and the victim to fly to New York City and appear on his show.

The offender stayed out of jail, stayed clean and out of trouble, according to Wittman, until he died in a tragic accident a few years ago.

Call remembered a youth who was a habitual offender and charged with a serious offense. The judge wanted to send him to jail, but Wittman intervened. He convinced the judge to let the youth volunteer at the Senior Center on Bank Street. 

The youth spent six months there, helping out in a variety of capacities, and getting to know the seniors who came to the programs there.

At the end of his six months, the seniors organized a going-away potluck lunch. They invited the sheriff, the DA and the judge.

The also invited the youth's father, who said, according to Call, "I'm so proud of my son today. My son was no good. He was a criminal and didn't care about what happened. I'm so proud that he did this."

Call added, "Dennis could make somebody constructively responsible for their conduct. He could bring about restorative justice instead of just warehousing them."

Two weeks ago, Wittman underwent a kidney transplant.

He's had a series of major health issues since 2005, starting with a heart attack. He has been admitted to ICU in Erie County twice, and twice at UMMC, where a liver problem caused him to bleed so much the entire ICU unit was covered in his blood. The doctor gave him only a 10-pecent chance to live.

Eventually, he had a liver transplant.

His health issues, he admits, are at least partly caused by the work and the stress that went into creating Genesee Justice.

"When you're a visionary, when you're innovative, you will have a lot of critics," he said. "Mostly, I just tried to ignore the sharpshooters."

At age 67, Wittman is disappointed to see that his life work might be undone.

"I feel bad that Jay (Gsell) has given up on it," Wittman said. "I don't think probation can do it. You've got to have the vision, the heart, the drive to make it work.

"They all want a free ride," Wittman added, with his voice rising for the only time in our interview. "How much of a free ride do they want? We brought in $6.3 million into this county (in grants), but they still want a free ride. If you want quality, you've got to pay for it."

Photo: Dennis Wittman with Kodah, a previous winner of The Batavian's "Pet of the Week."

Batavia Kiwanis once again sponsored a community skate for Thanksgiving at the Falleti Ice Arena, and kids of all ages showed up.

More photos after the jump, and photos available for purchase by clicking here.

Blake Polito, Mitch Riter and Austin Wilkson can't wait for it to snow so they can ski.

But while they wait, they hit upon an ingenious idea -- use the ice dumped from the Zamboni at the Falleti Ice Arena to fashion a mini ski ramp and get some practice in now.

The trio was out behind the arena today practicing-- with permission, they said, from the arena management.

If it's snow they want, they reportedly won't have long to wait. The National Weather Service has issued a lake effect snow watch from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening for parts of Genesee County, including, potentially, Batavia.

Two more pictures after the jump:

Suzanne Corona -- the 41-year-old Batavia woman who admitted to sexual contact with an Oakfield man in Farrall Park over the summer -- was sentenced this afternoon to one year probation by City Court Judge Michael Delplato.

Her attorney, Brian Degnan, asked a conditional discharge -- meaning the charges would be dropped if Corona complied with certain requirements over a six-month period -- but Delplato said he thought the Probation's Department recommendation for probation was best for Corona.

Corona will need to continue in substance-abuse counseling, which she already started voluntarily, and stay out of trouble.

She previously pled guilty to public lewdness, a misdemeanor, and an adultery charge against her was dropped.

Outside of the courtroom, Corona was she was glad to put the embarrassing case behind her.

"I'm glad it's over," Corona said. "It was a long time coming. I'm glad. My family's glad."

Then she told the handful of reporters gathered outside the courthouse, "Hopefully there will be another scandalous behavior in Batavia to keep you all busy."

The reporters laughed and WHAM-13's Sean Carroll said, "One that doesn't involve you, right?"

"No, it won't involve me," Corona said.

Corona told Delplato prior to her sentencing that she's been going to private counseling three times a week and a group session once a week.

One reason Delplato decided upon probation, he said, was because she had a prior arrest in another state and she never went to court on the matter. There is an arrest warrant, he said, for her in that jurisdiction.

"It's my responsibility to fashion a sentence that addresses the needs you have," Delplato said. "That's why I'm sentencing you to a year in probation.

Delplato also ordered Corona not to have any contact with her co-defendant, 29-year-old Justin Amend.

Amend is currently a fugitive from justice. A warrant was issued for his arrest earlier this month after he failed to appear for his sentencing on a public lewdness conviction.

Meagan Victoria Finzer, 21, of Clarendon Street, Albion, is charged with petit larceny. Finzer was allegedly confronted by loss prevention officers at Kmart shortly after 6 p.m., Tuesday, and she reportedly did not cooperate, and instead got into her car and drove off. A description of the vehicle, with license plate, was provided to local law enforcement and her car was stopped a short time later on West Main Street by Batavia Police. Following further investigation, she was taken into custody by a Sheriff's Deputy.

Michael John Coffta, 18, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Coffta is accused of shoplifting from Kmart.

Joshua A. Kitanik, 22, of Oakfield, is charged with trespass. Kitanik was arrested at 4:48 p.m., Monday, by State Police on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. No further details released.

Carlson's Studio, 39 Jackson St., Batavia, NY: Holiday portrait time is now, or save for a spring wedding or other special event. We have a $150 gift card for $65 (+$2 PayPal service fee).

Adam Miller Toy & Bicycles, 8 Center St., Batavia, NY: Feel like a kid in a toy store again, or treat your kids to the greatest toy store they will ever see. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

Alli's Cones & Dogs, 7063 Lewiston Road, Oakfield, NY.: Full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu; new all-you-can-eat salad bar; ice cream served year-round; eat-in or take-out. We have $20 gift certificates for $10.

Delavan's Restaurant and Tavern, 107 Evans St., Batavia, NY: To me, Delavan's is one of those restaurants where you want to eat frequently until you try everything on the menu. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

South Beach, 59 Main St., Batavia, NY: Try the new lunch buffet. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50 (must be used by Dec. 31, 2010).

South Main Country Gifts, 3356 Main St. Road, Batavia, NY: Handcrafted items, gifts with a regional flair, candles, teas and spices -- South Main has a wide selection to please most any interest. Decorate your home or office for Fall or start your Christmas shopping. We have a $20 gift certificate for $10.

The Enchanted Florist, 202 E. Main St., Batavia, NY: What better way to brighten your home or office for the holidays than with flowers? We have a $20 gift certificate for $9.50.

Alex's Place, 8322 Park Road, Batavia, NY: People come from all over the region for a fine dining experience at Alex's. It's best known for its ribs, of course, but Alex's seafood is also a favorite of the restaurant's diners. We have a $25 gift certificate for $12.50.

NOTE: If you've never bought Deal of the Day before, or are otherwise unfamiliar with the rules and process, click here.

The Enchanted Florist

With some beautiful weather, I was able to get out of the city for a bit today and take some photos. Here are three of the pictures.

Above, a Ford pickup behind Bruce Scofield's place (Scofield Roll Off Service) on Route 5 in Stafford.

An old windmill on Gully Road, Le Roy.

Silos on Pagen Farms, Gully Road, Le Roy.

Tonight, Pembroke native Brent Persia, hosted a CD-release party at Center Street Smoke House, Downtown Batavia. Before a full house, Persia sang songs from his debut CD as well as some favorite covers. The singer-songwriter's CD will be available for purchase through his website.

In a long conversation today about the need for the Soil and Water Conservation District in Genesee County, Le Roy dairy farmer Dale Stein didn't once complain about an increasingly demanding Environmental Protection Agency.

He just said "Farmers need help."

That help has come for years from the Soil and Water District. Staff members have the expertise to help farmers comply with regulations that protect the land, air and water.

"All of us want to live in a good environment," Stein said. "But we can't do it on our own."

After our talk, Stein walked me across the street, through the mud and over a plank bridge that spans a cement trough, a little creek if you will, of liquid manure.

The manure is fed into a new $170,000 machine that pulls out the solids, drys it, mashes it up and sends it out a conveyor belt into a big pile in a new storage building.

Sawdust, which has served as bedding for cows for decades or longer, is getting expensive, Stein said. Increasingly, it's used in recycled products, which drives the cost up for farmers.

Now, Stein's cows sleep on their own processed manure.

"The cows love it," Stein said. "It's soft and fluffy."

Surprisingly, it has no discernible odor.

The environmentally friendly process was driven as much by federal guidelines to reduce his manure waste as it was by economics.

After a 30-percent federal grant to help pay for the project, Stein said the savings on sawdust purchasing will pay for the operation inside of two years.

Without the help of Soil and Water technicians, Stein said, the project would been a lot harder to pull off. They help identify issues on his farm that might run afoul of regulations, find the right solutions, help secure grants to pay for the projects and then ensure the project is completed within federal or state guidelines.

No farmer, Stein said, has that kind of expertise.

These are tough times, though, and the Genesee County Legislature wants to balance the county's $140.5 million budget without raising property taxes. At the same time, more than 80 percent of the county's revenue is tied up in covering the expense of unfunded mandates.

So, where the county can cut, officials are looking at deep cuts.

For the Soil and Water District, that means a 15-percent reduction -- $26,000 -- in the county's $170,000 allocation.

With the budget cut, there will be at least one less staff member in the district, according to Brad Rodgers, chairman of the Soil and Water board of directors.

"(The cut) would be a real detriment to the agriculture industry in Genesee County," said Rogers. "Even level funding would hurt us."

Scott Page, president of the Genesee County Farm Bureau, believes keeping Soil and Water is critical to protecting Genesee County's economic base.

"If we hurt ag, we miss an opportunity to move forward," said Page. "The more we build off our agricultural base, the better the local economy will do."

Page said his family has been dairy farmers in Le Roy for 50 years, and he's seen the regulations get tighter and more technical. While he doesn't think they are entirely necessary ("What farmer doesn't want to care for his animals?" he says), there is just no way the typical Genesee County farmer can keep abreast of all the regulations without experts to lead the way, he said.

Although Stein's manure recycling project has a direct economic benefit to his business, complying with many of the state and federal regulations adds nothing to the bottom line.

"It's tough for a farmer to lay aside that kind of money for something that is not going to generate profit," Page said.

Banks don't want to loan farmers money to undertake projects that often cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Banks are only willing to help, Stein said, because there are federal grants available to pay from 30 to 70 percent of a project's cost.

And it takes Soil and Water experts to help a farmer through the application process.

"We have a good Soil and Water program," Stein said. "But we will start losing farms in this county pretty quickly due to these regulations without help."

Photos: Top, Dale Stein in front of a pile of manure dust; inset, Stein holding a handful of processed manure; bottom inset, Scott Page.

David Wayne King, 53, of Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road, Oakfield, is charged with petit larceny. King is accused of shoplifting cigarettes from Jan's Smoke Shop on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation.

Andrew R. Osborne, 18, of Drake Street, Oakfield, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Osborne is accused of sending inappropriate pictures to a female victim.

Joshua Charles Brownell, 19, of South Pearl Street, Oakfield, is charged with stalking, 4th, and harassment, 2nd. Brownell is accused of blocking a road with his vehicle and then exiting his vehicle and threatening another person.

Patrick Raymond Krieger, 20, of Genesee Street Road, Corfu, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Krieger was approached at Kmart by Deputy Brian Thompson regarding alleged illegal tinting of his windows. During the interview, Thompson allegedly found Krieger to be in possession of marijuana.

Thomas William Glass, 37, of Steven Drive, Cheektowaga, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Deputy Brian Thompson stopped Glass in the Village of Corfu for an alleged traffic violation at 1:40 p.m., Tuesday. During the traffic stop, K-9 "Jay" alerted on the vehicle.

Douglas James Karek, 50, of Geary Street, Buffalo, was picked up on a warrant out of Erie County Family Court. Karek was identified during a traffic stop on Route 33 in Corfu (Karek was reportedly a passenger in the vehicle driven by Glass above).

A Pavilion resident suffered non-life threatening injuries Monday morning when a car he was driving slid off the road in Le Roy and struck a tree.

Charles A. Sisnett, 22, of Creek Road, Pavilion, was cited for allegedly driving too fast for conditions.

Sisnett was in the area of 9845 Roanoke Road, Le Roy, at 9:45 a.m., when he apparently lost control of the 1998 Chevy sedan he was driving.

He reportedly told Deputy Chris Parker that he swerved to avoid an "unknown animal."

(Initial Report)

Sheriff's deputies have converged on the area of Route 5 and Route 237, Stafford, to look for a suspect.

It's not clear what the initial complaint was about, but the caller has stated the suspect threatened to shoot him.

The suspect may be on ATV.

UPDATE 9:10 a.m.: I've not heard much more on this. There was a consultation with DEC for some reason. It sounds like, though not clear, that law enforcement is still on scene.

A Batavia man who admitted to attempted robbery for trying to steal oxycodone from the Oakfield Pharmacy will spend one-and-a-half to three years in prison.

He must also receive substance-abuse counseling.

Cain Catino, 39, was sentenced in Genesee County Court today for the Sept. 20 attempted robbery, which was thwarted when the store owners wrestled Catino to the ground. It was revealed in court later that Catino had a knife on him at the time.

Last month, his mother, Kathleen Catino, 60, admitted she tried to smuggle oxycodone into her son at the Genesee County Jail. She is scheduled to be sentenced in January.

Deputy Tim Wescott and Youth Officer John Dehm were at Elba School this morning to talk with students about cyberbulling and Facebook and mobile phone safety. They explained how to avoid cyberbullying and the legal implications.

Photo and information submitted by Jason Smith.