Rochester-based Public Water Supply, an alt-Americana band that artfully mixes tasteful covers with well-written originals, played Monday afternoon at Labor Daze in Oakfield.
The Pink Floyd tribute band, The Floyd Concept, is on the main stage from 7 to 10 p.m.
Photos by Howard Owens.
Main Street in Oakfield was lined Monday morning with parade spectators as the community hosted its 39th Labor Daze Parade.
Photo by Howard Owens.
It was a packed park in Oakfield on Sunday night during the high-energy performance of Nerds Gone Wild.
Here's today's (Monday's) line of live music at Labor Daze:
The Labor Daze parade is at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Photos by Howard Owens.
Photos submitted today (Sunday) by readers of Wings Over Batavia.
The Oakfield Betterment Committee is putting on quite a music festival for Labor Daze this weekend.
This afternoon, local Fleetwood Mac tribute band Songbirds took to the main stage and put on a great show.
At 6:30, Nerds Gone Wild takes the stage.
Monday
The Labor Daze parade is at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Previously: It's more than just ‘Rumours’ that Songbirds pay tribute to Fleetwood Mac
Photos by Howard Owens.
The chief of East Pembroke Fire has ordered Area 51 to shut down its motocross races.
When a first responder informed the chief, a person at the races said, "There's no way that's going to happen," the chief responded, "Tell him if he doesn't shut it down, I'm going to have him arrested."
There have been multiple calls to the dirt track today for injuries and the latest call is requiring a Mercy Flight dispatch. There are reportedly more than a couple of people currently in need of treatment for injuries.
Mercy EMS is tied up on multiple calls so Alexander's ambulance has been dispatched to the scene. Darien is being asked to staff its ambulance because of the current ambulance shortage.
Area 51 is located at 3323 Harloff Road, Batavia.
UPDATE 4:46 p.m.: Mercy Flight has landed.
Photos by Philip Casper
The Oakfield-Alabama/Elba Aggies started its new season with another convincing win, beating Geneseo 55-14.
The Aggies shut out Geneseo in the first half, going into the locker room with a 42-0 lead.
Key stats:
Ronald Szpylman, Austin Pangrazio, and Gavin Armbrewster all also had rushing TDs (Gavin Armbrewster also had an interception).
"It was great to see this team come out of the gate and play a style of football that we felt they were capable of playing," said Head Coach Tyler Winter. "They were physical, played well at the point of attack, and they executed at a level much greater than a typical group in a week zero game. We are very pleased with the victory, but this group is more excited that they can now dive into film and begin preparations for the next challenge that awaits them."
Also on Friday and Saturday:
Coaches: Send your team's results and stats to howard@thebatavian.com
Photos by Debra Reilly.
Music fans were clearly having a good time on Saturday night at Labor Daze during performances by a hardcore country band, Hazzard County, and the rockin' trio, Dave Viterna Group.
There is more music planned for the rest of the long weekend.
Sunday:
On Monday:
The Labor Daze parade is at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Photos by Howard Owens.
While driving back to Batavia from Labor Daze in Oakfield on Saturday evening, the Wings Over Batavia air show was clearly visible from Route 63.
The Batavian will have ongoing coverage of the air show on Sunday.
Labor Daze is underway in Oakfield, and organizers have set up two stages so that the entertainment continues pretty much non-stop throughout the event.
Batavia Players kicked things off with a set of show tunes, and then the SkyCats started rocking on the other stage at 1 p.m.
Hazzard County took the stage at 4 p.m. and performs until 7 p.m., followed by the Dave Viterna Group from 7 to 10 p.m.
Tomorrow, Sunday:
On Monday:
The Labor Daze parade is at 10 a.m. on Monday.
At the end of nearly three hours of racing on Oak Street in Oakfield, Elias Pamer won the younger division and Cody Pangrazio won the older division in the Inaugural Oakfield Labor Daze Box Car Derby.
Photos by Howard Owens.
Press release:
The City of Batavia Police Department is currently looking for information leading to the arrest of Nathan L. Royse, 31, of Batavia, who is wanted on a violation of parole warrant as well a City of Batavia warrant for Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd degree.
Anyone with information is asked to contact our dispatch center at 585-345-6350 or submit a tip by clicking here.
Fram Oil Filters used to run a commercial with the tagline, "You can pay me now, or you can pay me later."
It may be the case that taxpayers in the East Pembroke Fire District decided earlier this week to the "pay me later" path for the future of keeping their homes and families safe in emergencies.
Voters turned down a proposal on Tuesday to fund a low-cost retirement program to help the fire department retain volunteers.
The measure was defeated 117 yes to 152 no.
Genesee County Emergency Management Coordinator Tim Yaeger said he is disappointed in the outcome of the vote. He sees on a daily basis what is going on with volunteer fire companies in the county -- declining membership, fewer people turning out to calls, fewer people in training classes.
"The volunteer service is in bad shape, and it's getting worse," Yaeger told The Batavian.
In a social media post, members of the East Pembroke department shared their disappointment.
"The East Pembroke Fire Department has always put the community first, helping out whenever anyone is in need. On your worst day, the volunteers stop their lives to help you for hours on end with no compensation," reads a post on the department's social media page. Individual members shared their disappointment in comments on the post.
Yaeger said he understands the hurt and frustration members are feeling but believes they will regroup and come to realize the vote was not a rejection of their service to the community.
"Once the emotion subsides, they'll see that is not the case," Yaeger said.
Volunteer firefighters do the job for free, putting in hundreds of hours annually, some more than a thousand, not just responding to calls but also going to training, attending meetings, maintaining equipment, and supporting fundraisers. It's an essential job with no pay, Yaeger noted. There is no pension. No health benefits. If you serve long enough, you might get a nice plaque at the end of your career.
"There are no benefits to being a volunteer firefighter other than it's a noble cause," Yaeger said. "And the calls are hard and getting harder. Most of them are EMS calls, and you're dealing with people who may not want you there. It might be drug overdose, and you're not welcome into the home, so it's disheartening (that this didn't pass)."
The program voters were asked to approve is known as LOSAP, or Length of Service Awards Program. It is run by an insurance company and would allow qualifying volunteers to earn $20 a month in retirement benefits for each year of service, with firefighters becoming fully vested after five years of qualifying service.
The cost to taxpayers in each of the first five years of the program -- when costs are at their highest because of a "buyback," allowing existing volunteers to qualify for five years of service -- would have been a maximum of 44 cents per $1,000 of assessed value on parcels in the district. After the first five years, the cost would have dropped by as much as two-thirds.
Issues that arose in the run-up to the vote were that residents had a hard time finding out what their actual individual cost to support the program would be. When The Batavian tried to find out, it took a couple of days to get a firm answer. The first time The Batavian asked the attorney for the district, Bradley Pinsky, what the rate would be, he said he was driving and didn't know. He suggested the reporter calculate the rate herself. Later he called back and said it was 96 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That didn't sound right because it was way out of line with guesstimate numbers previously provided to The Batavian. The Batavian contacted District President James Gayton, who contacted Pinsky immediately. Pinsky admitted to an error in the calculation and said the correct figure was a maximum of 44 cents.
"East Pembroke is struggling for people to respond to calls," Yaeger said. "It’s a frustrating feeling not having enough people to do the job, and then you try to do something to attract and retain people, and it gets rejected by the people you’re trying to protect," Yaeger said.
Yaeger acknowledged that the rejection of the measure by voters may have come down to messaging. There was a lack of clear information on a tax rate, but there was also misrepresentation and disinformation spread by two opponents of the measure. That left voters confused, so they just voted no.
East Pembroke volunteers think they know who those people who sent out mailers with incorrect information are and have pointed fingers at former colleagues.
Yeager said in looking at some of the recommendations from consultants on how to shore up emergency response times -- which, for Yaeger, response times is the bottom line issue at stake -- he and the area chiefs anticipated that some long-time volunteers would resist some of the initiatives, including LOSAP, because some people always hate any kind of change.
"We didn't have it before. It's not needed now," is that attitude that sometimes pops up, which in putting forward these proposals, consultants warned could happen.
It's not just a declining membership role that is making the volunteer firefighting service a challenge, Yaeger said. Equipment costs are skyrocketing. Turnout gear is more expensive. The equipment used in emergencies is more expensive.
A fire truck that cost $500,000 just a couple of years ago now costs $800,000, and the wait to get the order filled can take up to two years.
The countywide goal for response times is 10 minutes or less, which can be difficult in a small rural county at any time, Yaeger said.
"My concern is mostly with getting a trained, qualified person to that home or business or accident when somebody calls 9-1-1," Yaeger said. "Our goal is to be able to respond to anybody's house within 10 minutes. That's a high target to shoot for in a rural county, but if you asked anybody how fast they want us there when their loved one is having a heart attack or other emergency, they say, 'minutes.' I'm more concerned with service delivery that we're unable to provide right now adequately."
While maintaining an adequate volunteer force is important, Yaeger's office is also looking at other recommendations from a consultant that include stationing full-time, paid firefighters in fire halls throughout the county on day shifts and supplementing their responses with volunteers as well as strategically placing ambulances outside of Batavia.
For Yaeger, keeping response times low is a matter of saving lives, but for property owners, there is also a financial cost to increased response times, which can go up when there are too few volunteers to respond to calls.
Insurance rates are based on a rating of fire services available to a particular parcel of property. The Insurance Service Organization scores response times based on 9-1-1 operations, water supply, hydrant capacity, drive time, fire apparatus and equipment, staffing and several other factors.
A shortage of volunteers can affect an ISO score, which means higher insurance costs for property owners.
A decline in volunteer membership will also hasten the day that the county must implement a plan that supplements volunteers with paid, career firefighters.
Yaeger doesn't yet foresee replacing volunteer departments with full-time paid departments, such as currently provides fire protection to the City of Batavia, and the semi-paid response teams, if they come, will be shared across departmental jurisdictions; for example, East Pembroke Fire District won't be shouldering the entire cost alone for such a service.
But when it is harder for a department to retain volunteers, such as the potential case now with East Pembroke's failure to approve LOSAP, it becomes much more likely that property owners in that district are looking at much higher tax bills to cover the costs of paid firefighters.
LOSAP probably would not have brought in new firefighters, Yaeger said, but it would have rewarded those volunteers who have given so much to the community -- not just fire protection but donations through fundraisers to local charities -- and that could have been an important retention tool to forestall higher fire protection costs down the road.
"When you consider the cost of equipment and maintenance and upkeep on a fire station in order to maintain response times, it's going to cost money," Yaeger said. "What that total expense is, I don't know, but if we can't count on volunteers, we can only look to paid firefighters or a pay-per-call model because we're having trouble retaining volunteers, and it's getting worse every day."
The OHMS Band headlined a Wings Over Batavia Party in Jackson Square on Thursday night, sponsored by Eli Fish Brewing Company.
The organizers of Wings Over Batavia have been ensuring the pilots and flight crews have gotten a chance to enjoy Batavia during their time here, including taking them to locally-owned restaurants for meals and ensuring they get a chance to meet members of the community.
"All the performers I've spoken to tonight said they the community has embraced them," said Doreen Hillard-Zeliff. "They're blown away at how friendly everybody is here and helpful. They're just like shocked, you know. This is three-quarters of their season. They're getting tired by this time of the year and their show circuit. They've only got a few shows left for the year. So, to come to a show like this and have a community embrace them this way is really been wonderful for them."
Photos by Howard Owens
Three people were arrested during a traffic stop on Clinton Street Road as well as a raid on a residence on East Avenue on Thursday night in connection with a narcotics investigation by the Local Drug Task Force.
Two people are accused of selling narcotics.
The arrest and raid were the result of a warrant issued as a result of the investigation.
The Sheriff's Office did not disclose the types of drugs potentially recovered at either scene, nor the amount of drugs recovered.
All three suspects also face weapons charges but details on the weapons recovered was not released.
Charges:
Alterique Day, 51, of Saint Casmir Street, Rochester, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a Class B felony, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, a Class D felony. Day was arraigned in City Court and ordered held without bail.
Joanna F. Larnder, 30, of East Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a Class B felony, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a Class A misdemeanor, and tampering with physical evidence, a Class A misdemeanor. Larnder was arraigned in City Court and released under supervision.
Patricia McDonald, 37, of East Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, a Class A misdemeanor, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a Class A misdemeanor.
The Sheriff's Office did not specify the alleged actions leading to the tampering with evidence charge. The release also did not specify which suspects were taken into custody at the traffic stop and which were taken into custody at the residence.
A drug possession charge in the third degree means investigators believe the suspect was selling drugs.
The Emergency Response Team, led by Batavia PD, assisted in the raid of 15 East Ave.
The District Attorney's Office assisted in the investigation.
UPDATE: Batavia PD also issued a statement:
The City of Batavia Emergency Response Team (ERT), made up of members of the City of Batavia Police Department and Genesee County Sheriff's Office, assisted the Genesee County Local Drug Task Force, also comprised of members from both agencies, with the execution of two search warrants in the City of Batavia in relation to a narcotics trafficking investigation.
We encourage anyone with information about ongoing criminal investigations or drug dealing in their neighborhood to contact us by submitting a tip on our confidential tip page.
Previously: Residence on East Avenue raided, neighbors report loud bangs
An incident involving apparent gunshots on Oak Street in the City of Batavia on Monday night is still under investigation, said Chief Shawn Heubusch, Batavia PD.
Heubusch did not release any information on possible suspects or whether suspects have been identified. He did not release any information related specifically to the incident.
In response to an inquiry from The Batavian, Heubusch said, "We are still investigating the incident of shots fired on Oak Street and are asking the public, if they have any information, to contact the detective bureau at 585-345-6350."
The confidential tip line number is 585-345-6370. Confidential tips can also be submitted using this online form. The form offers an option for remaining anonymous.
Just before 5 p.m. on Thursday, a worker with A-Verdi Storage Containers removed an apparent mobile unit that seemed to have served as the on-site office of Savarino Companies at the Ellicott Station construction site.
The Savarino sign that had been on the unit was removed, and a metal desk and storage cabinet sat on the ground outside of it.
The driver confirmed he was removing the unit from the site and was later seen hauling it west on Ellicott Street.
More than a week ago, Developer Sam Savarino announced he was shutting down his company, citing massive losses from a dispute over a dormitory project at Alfred State College.
While at times it has appeared that work has continued this past week on the $22 million Ellicott Station apartment complex, the project is supposedly without a general contractor with the closure of Savarino Companies. Sam Savarino has said his management company is still in business, still running the project, and will seek a new general contractor.
City Manager Rachael Tabelski has said there has been no communication from Savarino regarding the status of the project, which is subject to multiple financial agreements involving the city, the state and GCEDC.
Reached on Thursday evening, Tabelski told The Batavian that there have still been no updates from Savarino. She said she has heard that other general contractors and developers are contacting Savarino, expressing interest in the project.
"The city and GCEDC have been talking with potential developers who have initial interest in taking over the project, but there will be a lot of financials to unwind, if this is in-fact possible to reassign grants and pay off lenders, etc."
She said there is nothing concrete to report at this time, and there is a meeting with NYS Housing and Community Renewal, a major government funder of the project and has expressed a commitment to The Batavian in seeing the project completed.
HCR initially awarded Savarino $1.2 million per year of low-income housing tax credits for 10 years based on his ability to secure investors and more recently awarded Savarino $5.7 million in low-income housing tax credits for the downtown apartment project.
"HCR has been actively monitoring the progress of the construction of Ellicott Station and will continue to do so as we work to ensure completion of this critical project and deliver 55 affordable homes to Batavia,” a spokesperson for HCR told The Batavian a week ago.
For all of The Batavian's previous coverage on Ellicott Station, click here.
The Emergency Response Team, along with uniformed members of Batavia PD and the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, along with detectives from both agencies, conducted an apparent raid on 15 East Ave., Batavia, sometime after 9 p.m. Thursday.
Area residents reported hearing a loud bang and shouts of "Come out with your hands up."
Some neighboring residents seemed to think the order applied to them and so complied, residents told The Batavian.
Two neighbors told The Batavian they've long suspected drug activity at the dwelling.
One neighbor said there is often a lot of activity and loud music coming from the house in the early morning hours, such as 3 a.m.
"It's about time they did something," he said, "but they should have come later at night. They would have found more people."
There was no authority on scene authorized to speak to the press, and authorities say there will be a press release "soon" about the police activity at the residence.
CORRECTION: Initially, this report stated this was at least a two-unit complex. A person familiar with the residence states that is not the case. Our statements were based on observations at the scene and coverage of a prior incident many years ago at the residence. The story has been correct to remove references to apartments.
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