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Christine Loranty shared these photos of a fox den in a gravel pit near her house in Alexander.

Daniel W. Knauss is indicated on counts of assault on a police officer, a Class C violent felony, assault in the second degree, a Class D violent felony, criminal contempt in the second degree, a Class A misdemeanor, criminal contempt in the first degree, a Class E felony, resisting arrest, a Class A misdemeanor, and two counts of harassment in the second degree. Knauss is accused of assaulting and causing serious physical injury to Trooper Mark Catanzaro while the trooper was attempting to perform his lawful duties during an incident on Sept. 29, in the Town of Pavilion. Knauss is accused of violating an order of protection on Sept. 29 by striking a football out of the hands of a protected person. He is accused of intentionally attempting to prevent his arrest. 

Tarrence Y. Williams is indicted on counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a Class B felony and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, a Class C felony. Williams is accused of possession of cocaine with the intent to sell on Dec. 16 in the City of Batavia. He is accused of possessing preparations, compounds, mixtures or substances containing a narcotic drug, cocaine, with a weight of an eighth of an ounce or more.

Tamaneek T. Perez-Smith is indicted on counts of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree, felony DWI, felony driving while ability impaired by drugs, resisting arrest, harassment in the second degree, and circumvention of an interlock device. Perez-Smith is accused of driving a 2010 Dodge on Park Road in the Town of Batavia on Sept. 30, while knowing her license was revoked and of driving while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. She is accused of intentionally trying to prevent her arrest. He is accused of kicking Deputy Kenneth Quackenbush. She is accused of driving a vehicle without an interlock device as previously ordered by a court.

Tyrone Nathan Thigpen, Sr., 44, of Summit Street, Batavia, is charged with aggravated family offense, endangering the welfare of a child, menacing 2nd, and criminal possession of a weapon 4th.  Thigpen was charged after allegedly displaying a rifle during a disturbance in the presence of a woman and her children while on Batavia Elba Townline Road, Batavia, at 3:15 p.m., April 3. Thigpen was arraigned in Town of Batavia Court and ordered held without bail.

Mohammad Imran Nasir, 48, of Grandview Drive, Amherst, is charged with possessing 30,000 or more untaxed cigarettes for the purpose of sales and failure to signal a lane change.  Nasir was stopped at 6:53 p.m., March 31, on Route 77 in Pembroke, by Sgt. Andrew Hale.

(name redacted upon request), 47, of Alexander Road, Alexander, is charged with disobeying a mandate. xxxxx is accused of violating an order of protection at 7:20 a.m., March 28, in the Town of Alexander. He was issued an appearance ticket. He is also charged with criminal contempt 2nd for allegedly violating a stay-away order on five different occasions.

Jordan Ellsworth Brodie, 35, of West Bergen Road, Le Roy, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, and driving an uninspected motor vehicle. Brodie was stopped at 2:54 a.m., April 3, on Griswold Road, Le Roy, by Deputy David Moore. He was issued an appearance ticket.

Logan Nathaniel Norcott, 25, of Lockpit Road, Clyde, is charged with criminal contempt 2nd. A person filed a complaint with the Genesee County Sheriff's Office that Norcott violated an order of protection at 7:45 p.m., March 24.  Norcott was taken into custody by the State Police in Wayne County and transferred to GCSO custody. He was arraigned in Town of Batavia Court and released on his own recognizance. 

Alicia K. Urban, 36, of Batavia, is charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child less than 17 years old, driving while impaired by drugs, and aggravated DWI with a child in the car. Urban was stopped by State Police at 7:49 p.m., March 29, in the Town of Batavia. She was issued an appearance ticket.

Sarah P. Lytle, 39, of Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Lytle is accused of stealing in the Town of Batavia at 6 p.m., April 1. She was arrested by State Police. She was released on an appearance ticket. No further details released.

Trevor T. Cook, 31, of Holley, is charged with felony DWAI/Drugs. Cook was stopped by State Police at 3:02 a.m., April 2, in the Tonawanda Indian Territory. He was issued an appearance ticket. No further information released.

Devin J. Manning, 22, of Le Roy, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Manning was arrested by State Police in connection with an incident reported at 4:36 p.m., March 31, in the Town of Le Roy.  He was released on an appearance ticket. No further details were released.

A car and semi-truck collision is reported at Oak Street and Park Road in the City of Batavia.

Unknown injuries. 

City Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDATE 2:41 p.m.: No injuries reported.

The #6 David McCarthy wore when he played hockey for Batavia will be retired in a ceremony at the David McCarthy Memorial Tournament in December, it was announced last night at the BND United Awards Banquet. 

A banner will be raised in McCarthy's honor at the game in the recently renamed David McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena in Batavia.

McCarthy died in a motor vehicle accident in November 2006 at the age of 29.  He was a 1995 graduate of Batavia High School, where he excelled in baseball and hockey.

Photo and information submitted by Guy Pellegrino.

A residential chimney fire is reported at 2274 Chick Road, Darien.

The house has been evacuated.

Darien Fire and Mercy EMS responding.

Alexander also requested to the scene.

Administrators with the Le Roy Central School District have been working on the 2022-2023 budget for weeks and are currently proposing $27,708,988 in expenditures, an increase of $839,701 from the 2021-2022 budget, or a 3.13% increase.

Superintendent Merritt Holly said officials still need to compare revenue numbers to help finalize the budget.

School districts do not yet know how much state aid they will receive, which is a significant portion of every district's revenue. Without that number, officials cannot say what the anticipated tax levy will be and what that will mean for the tax rate on property owners in the district.

Under the property tax cap, the district can increase the levy by 2.39 percent.   

The school board will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in the auditorium of Wolcott School.

For 50 years, the Genesee Society of Model Engineers has hosted a twice-annual model train show in Batavia and after a hiatus for COVID, the train show returned to the Richard C. Call Arena at GCC for the organization's 100th event.

Photos by Howard Owens

Lauren, 3, and Nathan, 6, of Le Roy, were excited this afternoon to meet the Easter Bunny, as part of an Easter Egg Hunt event, at Batavia First United Methodist Church.

If you've got nice things around your house that you no longer want, Angelina Pellegrino is ready to sell it for you, with all proceeds benefiting a family moving into a Habitat for Humanity home.

Pellegrino, herself a beneficiary of Habitat's homeownership program, has had previous garage sales to benefit the organization or its clients.

She's now collecting donations for the yard sale at her home, 150 State St., Batavia, on May 21 and 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There are two Habitat homes near completion and Pellegrino said proceeds from this year's yard sale will go directly to the families moving into those homes.

"It's start-up cash," Pellegrino said.  "It's for the little things you need around the house that you don't really think about." 

If you have items to donate -- and it can be pretty much anything that somebody else might want to buy -- you can contact Pellegrino at (585) 356-4867 or angelinapellegrino@ymail.com.

"I know people will be spring cleaning and instead of tossing out what they don't want or donating it elsewhere, we could really use any donations at this time," Pellegrino said. "There is nothing really is off-limits for donations, from clothes to furniture. I am willing to pick up donations or people may drop them off at my house."

A two-vehicle, head-on collision is reported in the area of 6436 Alleghany Road, Alabama.

Injuries are reported.

Mercy Flight #8 out of Buffalo is on ground standby.

Alabama Fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 10:58 a.m.: Indian Falls Fire requested to Route 77 and Route 63 intersection to shut down northbound traffic.

UPDATE 11:03 a.m.: Two patients, a second ambulance requested to the scene.  Mercy Flight can stand down.

Job and employment data released recently by the NYS Labor Department indicate a strong labor market for Genesee County.

There are 21,500 non-farm jobs in Genesee County, up from 21,000 a year ago.

The total number of private-sector jobs grew from 15,900 to 16,300.

The county's unemployment rate for February 2022 was 4.1 percent, down from 6.2 a year ago and the lowest rate for any February since at least 1990.

The total labor force (the number of people working or seeking work) grew from 29,000 to 29,200.

The total number of local residents employed in February was 28,200, up from 27,200.  The number of employed in February 2020 was higher at 28,600, which was the highest level since 2009 when it was 29,600.

The total unemployed -- people still in the market for jobs -- was 1,200, down from 1,800 a year earlier and lower than in 2020, just before the start of the pandemic, when it was 1,600.  The February total for Genesee County was the lowest since at least 1990.

The state's unemployment rate is 5.1 percent and the nation's is 3.8 percent.

In a recent report, however, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (a Federal agency), New York has a higher labor under-utilization rate than the rest of the nation. 

Labor under-utilization is a measure of the number of people who are unemployed, employed part-time for economic reasons, and those marginally attached to the labor force.

For New York, the rate is 12.2.  Nationally it is 9.4 percent.

New York City's under-utilization rate appears to be pushing up the state average.  In NYC it is 15.5.  For the rest of the state, the data is not broken down by county so the statistic isn't available specifically for Genesee County.

Mercy Flight is landing at the Pembroke Fire Hall, responding to a burn-victim call in the area of 8600 South lake Road.

The victim is described as a man in his mid-50s with first and second-degree burns to his face, hands, and check from a fuel fire.

The fire is out.

The patient is conscious and breathing.

UPDATE 1:04 p.m.: Mercy Flight is airborne in route to ECMC. Pembroke Fire is back in service.

Don Burns did something recently he probably never imagined when he graduated from Batavia High School in 1992 -- dress up as Darth Vader and recite one of Shakespeare's famous monologues in the Richmond Mausoleum. 

Burns, now a teacher in Rochester, was both Darth Vader and executive producer of a Star Wars fan film, Tomorrow & Tomorrow.

The production was a project of 501st Legion's Garrison Excelsior, a worldwide not-for-profit costuming group that raises awareness and money for charities while spreading its members' love for Star Wars.

So far, the film has raised $1,200 for Make-A-Wish.

Burns and another Garrison conceived of the film.

"While researching for upcoming lessons, I happened upon a short film about a Stormtrooper reciting Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech," Burns said. "As an English teacher, and Darth Vader, I've mused with Vader as the title character in Macbeth and was disappointed that I was beaten to the punch. My friend, who is a mask-maker by profession, encouraged me  to look further into it and together we mapped out a way to get it done."

Half the movie was shot at Rochester's Sunken Garden and half at the mausoleum in Batavia.

The film was directed by Joseph Palluconi. The editor was Mark Lukenbill. 

"When all was said and done, it turned out better than I ever had a right to imagine," Burns said.

Here's a behind-the-scenes video about the making of the film.

The Marshalls store on Veterans Memorial Drive in Batavia Town Center is being evacuated because of sparks and smoke coming from a light fixture in the building.

Town of Batavia Fire responding.

This morning's sky was stunning, and Frank Capuano, Batavia (top photo), and Jodi Carmichael, Alabama, shared these two photos.

Kerwin Eric Ransom, 58, of Genesee Street, Pembroke, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and harassment 2nd. Ransom is accused of pushing a pre-teen child. He was arraigned in Town of Pembroke Court, issued an order of protection, and released.

Tina Marie Baase, 59, of Hamlin, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, and moving from lane unsafely. Baase was stopped at 9:34 p.m., March 26, on Route 98 in Batavia, by Deputy Jeremiah Gechell. Baase allegedly failed a field sobriety test. She was issued an appearance ticket.

Jessica Jean Easton, 38, of Easton Road, Esperance, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of.18 or greater. Easton was stopped at 8:50 p.m., March 26, on Gillate Road, Alexander, by Deputy Morgan Ewart. Easton was released on an appearance ticket.

Sierra Nicole Biegasiewicz, 31, of Ross Street, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Biegasiewicz is accused of shoplifting at Walmart. She was released on an appearance ticket.

A driver told a deputy he was distracted by his CB radio prior to an accident on Sandpit Road in Alexander at 4:40 p.m., Monday.

The driver of the second vehicle sustained minor injuries. 

Phillip J. Gorny, 53, of Creek Road, Batavia, driving a 2004 Dodge pickup, struck a 2007 Chevrolet SUV driven by 64-year-old Linda Hulshoff, of Broadway Road, Alexander.

Gorny was reportedly northbound on Sandpit Road and allegedly failed to yield to Hulshoff, who was eastbound on Route 20.  His pickup struck the SUV in the area of the passenger side front fender.

Deputy Jeremy McClellan, who investigated the accident, issued Gorny a traffic citation for alleged failure to yield.