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Representatives from local law enforcement, including the Sheriff's Office and Batavia PD, participated in the Arc GLOW Torch Run on Thursday morning in support of the Special Olympics.  The route took the officers from the Sheriff's Office on Park Road to the Arc facility on Walnut Street in Batavia.

Akron resident Leonard Woltz, Jr. was likely just days from death in October when he encountered the UMMC wound care treatment team.

Now, he is nearly healed, and Dr. Joseph Canzoneri expressed confidence that he will walk again.

Woltz had a necrotizing fasciitis infection in his foot.  The infection is caused by a rare, flesh-eating bacteria.

"It just absolutely blew up over a matter of three or four days," Woltz said. "And that's it. I got a football on the end of my foot, and then that one day we came in, and I got right in, and you know, they started treatments and everything in the hospital. But the care here, and the folks here are just they are -- it's absolutely incredible."

On Tuesday, Woltz attended a ceremony honoring the Wound Care Center for its eight consecutive years of being honored by Healogics, the nation’s largest provider of advanced wound care services. This year, the clinic received the President’s Circle Award along with the Center of Distinction and Robert A. Warriner III Clinical Excellence awards for 2023.

The trio of awards was dubbed the hat-trick, after the sports metaphor that originated in England among cricket players.

The awards recognize the center's quality care, consistent compassion for patients, and expertise.  The center, according to a Healogics representative, had an 86 percent heal rate in 2023 and a patient satisfaction rate of 94 percent.

Healolgics works with more than 600 hospitals nationwide and only 34 are receiving the 2023 Presidents Award, and only two in New York.

"These awards are achievements well deserved, well acknowledged," said Toni McCutcheon, director of operations for Healogics. "It really comes from the people-first patient-centered processes they have here. They're healing patients, they're taking care of their patients, they love their patients. If it wasn't for that, this wouldn't happen. So it's always about the patient and will always be about the patient."

That's precisely how Woltz feels about the center.

"From the time you walk through the door and you talk to Mary Beth, you know you're amongst friends and people who care about you," Woltz said.

Canzoneri said Woltz presented one of the most challenging cases the clinic has faced.

"This is one of the worst types of infection," Canzoneri said. "It travels up the foot and very quickly results in sepsis and can often result in death and high incidence of leg amputation."

Woltz was admitted on a regime of IV antibiotics and drainage of the wound.

"We then took him back to the operating room for limb salvage procedures to preserve as much of this foot as possible to avoid below-knee amputation," Canzoneri said. "It is crucial to prevent below-knee amputations because it results in high mortality rates within three to five years. And almost 80 percent of patients who sustain a below-knee amputation never walk again and are confined to wheelchairs or assisted living."

The infection was contained with a mid-foot amputation and aggressive treatment, including use of the center's hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

At the gathering, Canzoneri pronounced Woltz "almost healed" and that he would almost certainly be totally healed within weeks.

Woltz said he's gone from the psychological trauma in October of wondering what his future would be like, and if he even would have a future, to looking forward to resuming most of his prior activities.

"Now we're down to this part here where this thing is closing so rapidly now because of all the stuff we've done before and the brilliant move that Dr. Joe made with my foot," Woltz said. "It's all coming down to 'Wow, I'm going to be okay.' I'm gonna be able to do 97 percent of the things I used to do. You know, I'm not gonna be running marathons anytime soon, but yeah, it's all right."

A car has reportedly struck a tree in the area of 1867 County Line Road, Darien.

A mother and child are believed in the car with a patient bleeding from the head.

Darien Fire and ambulance dispatched along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 1:12 p.m.: A 30-year-old female has a cut on her head, according to a first responder. The child appears to be OK.

UPDATE 1:49 p.m.: A patient is being transported to Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital. Darien assignment back in service.

After receiving reports of gunfire in the area of 3310 West Main Street Road, Batavia, shortly after noon on Tuesday, Sheriff's deputies engaged in a standoff with a resident that lasted until after 11 p.m.

There were no injuries to the resident, neighbors, or responding personnel, said Chief Deputy Brian Frieday. 

Friday noted the area is a fairly residential neighborhood with houses close together and a trailer park nearby, so law enforcement carefully assessed the situation and moved slowly in trying to coax the man out of the small house on the property. 

"Just in dealing with anybody with a gun call these days, sometimes you have to take the time and the extra caution to make sure you're dealing with it properly and safely," Frieday said.

Based on multiple witness statements supporting the assertion that there was gunfire on the property, the Sheriff's Office was able to obtain a search warrant for the house.

Throughout the 11-hour standoff, deputies continued to try and talk the man out of the residence.  Every 15 minutes or so, deputies with guns drawn and using shields approached the house and spoke through a bullhorn, telling the man to come out of the house.

Frieday said the man responded once to deputies, but "that ended quickly."

The details of how the subject was taken into custody have not been released, but there were no injuries, Frieday said. He indicated there was no struggle.

Asked if he knew what shots were fired, Frieday said any answer he might give would be speculation.

"I wouldn't want to say anything that wouldn't be 100 percent accurate," Frieday said.

After investigators entered the residence, they were seen removing possible weapons and taking inventory of them at the scene.

While at the scene, with the investigation ongoing, Frieday didn't want to release the possible charges against the suspect.  At least one potential charge was needed to get the warrant, but Frieday said he didn't want to release that charge until a press release was issued with all possible charges.

Asked what possible charges might apply to the situation, Frieday said it's illegal to fire a gun within 500 feet of a residence, there is possibly reckless endangerment, and "a few different things," he said.

Route 5 west of Wortendyke was closed to traffic throughout the standoff.  That, too, Frieday said, was done out of an abundance of caution.

"If ever something were to break out and a passerby on the road was to have something bad happen to them, we certainly wouldn't want that," Frieday said. "We wouldn't want to second-guess that."

That's also why several homes in the immediate vicinity were evacuated, Frieday said. 

Frieday said if other witnesses would like to come forward, they can call the Sheriff's Office at 585-343-5000.

UPDATE: Ryan J. Goldman, 31, was charged with reckless endangerment 2nd and discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a residence, an unclassified misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket and released.

Photos by Howard Owens.

The music of the 1990s is still going strong, the way Zach Goode, lead singer of Smash Mouth, sees it.

Twenty-five years ago, San Jose-based Smash Mouth topped the charts with songs like Walking on the Sun and All Star, a pair of multiplatinum albums, and scoring multiple Top 40 hits, a string of success that continued into the early part of the new century.

Goode is in a unique position to observe the 1990s music scene. He worked it with some regional success in San Diego's vibrant punk, metal, and alternative rock scene and then took a deep dive into the Smash Mouth catalog three years ago when he replaced founding lead singer Steve Harwell. (Harwell left the band in 2021 due to health issues. He died in 2023.)

Once in the role, Goode studied Smash Mouth's records inside and out and knew, he said, just how well-written the songs were.

"I was really familiar with the hits," said Goode, himself a songwriter.  "I didn't know all their back catalog, and as I listened to some of the stuff, I was like, 'Wow, if you had a different vocal on this, it could be a Beck song.' Some of the stuff is totally cool and artsy; it's retro and space-age, so it's really cool.  It still sounds futuristic.

"It's really good songwriting. I think some of the songs Greg (Camp) wrote (are really good).  If he wrote a song about a car, you know, that song is going to have three or four verses, a beginning, a middle, and an end. It wasn't just like a trendy, catchy earworm. He tells a story, and all the songs are very clever."

Camp left the band in 2008 and has returned periodically, but has worked on other projects, released solo material and is currently a songwriter and producer based in Los Angeles.

Canadian Paul De Lisle is the lone original member of Smash Mouth still with the band.

A hallmark of Smash Mouth's albums is the variety of genres they mixed together, which helps the entire catalog sound fresh today, from punk and hip-hop to ska and alt-rock. They even touched on bossa nova and disco.

"It's kind of a matter where all of the elements kind of came together -- the lyric, the production -- Eric Valentine's production was incredible -- and obviously they had hits, so that's what sets them apart from some bands."

Smash Mouth continues to attract a large crowd based on all of those hit songs, even if recent chart success has been elusive.

Since Goode joined the band, Smash Mouth has recorded 14 new tracks, including a Christmas album, along with a few singles. The latest single is Ride On, a disco jam celebration of California.

The band is working toward turning out a new album, hopefully by the end of the year, but between touring and all the band members living in different parts of the country, there are logistical challenges to overcome.

Meanwhile, they continue recording singles.

"I have about five songs I wrote that I submitted that are kind of in the queue," Goode said. "We're just slowly recording new songs and putting them out there. That's kind of the new paradigm in the music biz, right? Just to put songs out and work them for a while and then do another one. No one is in a real big rush to put out a new album unless you're the Taylor Swift of the world these days."

Those early Smash Mouth records were pretty special, as Goode understands, and that's the bar the band knows it must meet and what they're aiming for, Goode suggested.

"It's not easy, you know; it's like there's a certain thing that they had," Goode said. "That's not easy to replicate. I mean, even they couldn't replicate it, you know? Every song would be a number-one hit if they could be, but it's not that easy. There has to be a little bit of magic involved."

Three years into his new gig, Goode is grateful for the step up from a local band with no crew to support the performers to one with professionals all around and large, appreciative crowds that know all the band's songs.

"It's really nice to travel with these guys who know how to do their jobs," Goode said. "You're able to just focus and put on a good show. 

"And wherever we go, ten thousand people show up, and they know all the songs. It's been a blessing. It's just great."

He also appreciates how the fans have embraced him as a new frontman for a beloved band.

"I was expecting a lot more pushback," Goode said. "I mean, sometimes, people aren't happy when you replace a band member, especially the lead singer, especially an iconic singer, so I was braced for the worst, and right from the beginning, people were just super accepting and nice."

As the new frontman for one of the top groups from the 1990s, he's stepped into a world that includes, among others, Everclear, Sugar Ray, the Spin Doctors, Fastball, Live, and the Barenaked Ladies.  These are bands, he notes, that may no longer have the chart success they once had but still are in demand and draw big crowds.

"They might not still be on the radio every day but there's a huge generation of people (who are fans)," Goode said. "The older classic rock bands are not going to be around forever, unfortunately, and the 90s bands are the next wave of classic rock."

Smash Mouth headlines at Batavia Downs on June 21.  For tickets, click here.

More than a dozen distillers were on hand at the annual Bourbon and Whiskey Fest at Batavia Downs to share their various bourbon, whiskey, and rye libations.

The event was held Saturday in conjunction with the running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Springs.

Photos by Howard Owens.

A motor vehicle accident is reported in front of Darien Lake Theme Park, 9993 Alleghany Road, Darien.

A possible neck injury is reported.

Darien Fire and ambulance dispatched.

UPDATE 1:44 p.m.: Two vehicles blocking.

Bergen hosted its annual Park Festival on Saturday. The event featured a parade, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, fun and games, and live music.

Photos by Jennifer DiQuattro.

With a cheerful wave and greeting of "Happy Pride," participants in Batavia's annual Pride Parade celebrated LGBTQ identity and acceptance Saturday in a stroll that took them along a route from Batavia First Presbyterian Church down Summit Street, to Washington Avenue, Bank Street to Main Street.

The parade was part of an hours-long Pride Month celebration in Downtown Batavia, organized by GLOW Out, centered around a festival in Jackson Square and on Center Street.

Photos by Howard Owens.

A structural fire is reported at 2910 West Main Street Road, Batavia.

A second alarm has been called.

East Pembroke Fire dispatched with mutual aid from Town of Batavia, Darien, Alexander, and City Fire's FAST Team.

UPDATE 2:16 a.m.: A deputy spotted a wire connected to the house arcing and sparking, which caused some smoke damage to the exterior of the structure. East Pembroke Chief Don Newton said there was a small interior fire involving fan.  He said they didn't know yet if there had been a power surge in the area but a neighboring residence did have brown-out conditions.

The message came through clearly at the end of a DWI drill staged for Oakfield-Alabama seniors on Friday -- nobody wants to be at a scene like this one -- one where a drunken driver has been involved in an accident, taking the life of a young person.

Firefighter Chad Hilchey said they affect everybody. He's come home crying from responding to fatal accidents.  

O-A Superintendent John Fisgus told the seniors on the morning of their prom night that he wants them to have fun at their prom but he also wants them to make it home safely. He said all of the people involved in the drill -- Oakfield Fire, Alabama Fire, Mercy Flight, the Sheriff's Office, and the coroner -- were there because they cared about the students. Fisgus called them his family and said while he wanted them to have fun tonight, it was a night he didn't look forward to.  None of the teachers and administrators do. It's a night they know they won't sleep, worried about getting a call they don't want to get.

Photos by Howard Owens.

The International Peace Garden Committee unveiled five new interpretive panels along the Peace Garden trail on Thursday.

The panels help explain the history and significance of the Peace Garden.

"Fourteen years ago, we had no idea what an impact this garden would have on its citizens," said Barb Toal. "This beautiful spot in Downtown Batavia brings visitors from all over the world to celebrate peace among other countries."

The intent of the garden, Toal said, is to foster peace throughout the world.

"We get visitors from all over the world," said founder Paula Savage. "Someone will be here from Germany, someone from the Netherlands, and they bring their families with them because the garden is connected to the world. That's the reason for the flags (in the garden). Every flag represents a country that has received a Peace Garden."

The panels were funded by a NYS Re-Grant program administered by GO ART!

The annual Father's Day Retro Jam & Musicians Reunion returns to the Oakfield Rod and Gun Club on Sunday, June 16.

There will be live music from 1 to 7 p.m. featuring The Double Image Band, Tim's Healing Committee, Prospect, Front Porch Pickers, Rock-A-Bully's, Bad Sign, Patrice & Friends, and "K" Rick "Howe."

Good fans, families, food, music, friends, and times are promised.

Bring your own lawn chair, cooler, and pop up.

Admission is free with donations accepted for WNY Heroes Inc, supporting veterans.

The club is located at 3199 Maltby Road, Oakfield.

Alexander Fire hosted a DWI drill on Thursday at its Rec Hall for Alexander High School seniors.

The fatal accident simulation is designed to remind the students of the dangers of drinking and driving and the impact one poor decision can have on the lives of friends, family, and the community.

Area volunteer fire departments from throughout the county hold DWI drills at this time of year in advance of prom nights.

Photos by Philip Casper.

On Wednesday, the Genesee Country Decorative Painters presented more than two dozen hand-painted decorative boxes for staff at the VA Hospital in Batavia to hand out to patients.

Helen Ronin said that every year, the group selects one or two community projects. This year, they decided to give back to the VA for its ongoing support of the group. The VA allows the group to meet regularly in the hospital's auditorium.

"We did this to present to the veterans because e of their service and what they've done for us," Ronin said. "And they let us meet here every time we need it."

The boxes contain a couple of useful items. Veterans might receive them on their birthdays or other special occasions or just because they need a "pick-me-up."

"They just need to know sometimes, if somebody is having a really hard time, that people do care," Ronin said.

The Decorative Painters are hobbyists who paint on objects.

"We paint pictures, wood, furniture, whatever. Whatever is in our way we get rid of it by painting on it," Ronin said with a laugh.

Cindy Baker, volunteer services specialist for the Batavia VA, said the VA is grateful for the donations.

"These are beautiful," she said. "They are gorgeous. I'm happy to be able to hand these to veterans and they will be very, very happy to receive these."

Photos by Howard Owens.

Elba Fire, with assistance from Mercy Flight/EMS, the Sheriff's Office, Emergency Dispatch, Byron Fire, H.E. Turner Funeral Homes, and the Office of Emergency Services, staged the annual pre-prom DWI drill for seniors at Elba High School on Wednesday morning.

The drill stages the scene of a DWI-related fatal accident. The purpose is to give students a realistic view of what happens at a serious injury/fatal accident scene and how it impacts family, friends, and community members.

Photos by Howard Owens

A major telecommunications company's application to erect a new mobile device cell tower is a fairly straightforward approval process for local planners, and on Tuesday evening, Robert W. Burgdorf of Rochester, an attorney representing Verizon, provided several useful nuggets of information.

It was an initial meeting in the regulatory process with the Town of Batavia Planning Board. The application must still undergo an environmental review and a public hearing, but Burgdorf was happy to discuss the process and some of the technical issues involved in installing a cell tower.

Cell towers are extremely location-sensitive because they have to be high enough to reach the neighboring towers but not so high that there is a spillover of signals into the neighboring cells.

"They've got to be placed so that they can hand off to the neighboring cells, again without interfering," Burgdorf said.

They wind up in a honeycomb-like grid, not too close but not too far apart.

Cell towers generally serve a one or two-mile area and can't be too close together or too far apart.

If the tower is under 200 feet tall—this one will be 154 feet tall—the Federal Aviation Administration does not require lighting or striping.

This down will be a matted steel gray.

"We've learned, and we've actually done studies, that this blends in with our skies in Western New York," he said.

An observation a couple of board members quipped was a depressing thought.

Oh, and 5G doesn't cause COVID.

A board member's question prompted the discussion of health concerns about cell towers. Burgdorf said federal law preempts that as a concern for local planners, which he regrets because it also preempts an opportunity to educate the public.

"This is a radio signal, that's all this is," he said. "It is an incredibly weak radio signal. We've had radio signals around since the 20s, the 30s. The only difference between this and a television or radio station is that those operated tens of thousands of watts, sometimes megawatts. So the power levels, from radio and television, just radio signal is much, much stronger than these. These are incredibly weak. They have to be incredibly weak for two reasons. One is they can't interfere with neighboring cells, which are often a mile, two miles away, and we have to be able to get a return path from the user"

He said that if anybody is concerned about cell phone signals, the first thing they should do is seek to do is shut down radio and television signals.

"The issue does come up, but anybody who looks into it, who's being rational, will see that that's not really an issue," Burgdorf said.

The tower will be located at 9300 Wilkinson Road on a 100x100-foot leased parcel. It will be fenced, and a small gravel road will connect it to Wilkinson. There will be minimal traffic to the location—maybe one maintenance worker a month will visit the site.

The board voted to seek lead agency for coordination purposes under the state's SEQR regulations (pronounced seek-ur, it stands for State Environmental Quality Review Act) even though Burgdorf informed lead agency designation for this project is not strictly required.

The board did it as a matter of course, because that is its standard practice, but board members said they will seek their attorney's opinion.

"It's not a fatal error to declare yourself lead agency," Burgdorf said, so he didn't object.

He said a lead agency is only required when there are other "involved" agencies. In this case, other agencies, such as the Genesee County Planning Board, are only "interested" agencies, so there is nothing in the SEQR process to coordinate with other involved agencies.

"Look, the SEQR regs are a pain. They really are," he said. "They're pretty convoluted and they force a lot of municipalities to really become an expert. It is a pretty intense set of regulations, so for what it's worth, if you declare yourself lead agency, that's not the process, but it doesn't make it defective, so whatever you want to do."

Proceeds from the sale of a children's book developed by the Chamber of Commerce --  “Genny Sees the Eclipse” -- will help feed rescue animals and even enable a couple of sanctuaries to give a couple of horses a safe place to retire.

On Tuesday, Brian Cousins, president of the Chamber, presented $28,653.56 to Jonell Chudyk, Mockingbird Farm Sanctuary; Marcy Colantonio, Volunteers for Animals; Maryanne Arena, Mary Land Haven for Horses; Pamela Harmon, Cherry Hill Sanctuary.

Each organization is receiving  $7,163.39.

"This is truly life-changing," said Chudyk. "I know for us from Mockingbird Farm Sanctuary, that amount, that total amount, will pay for the amount of hay that we need through winter. So thank you so much."

Harmon said the $7,000 would help Cherry Hill rescue more horses, and Arena, at Mary Land, said her rescue for retired racehorses would be able to add two horses to its stable.

"It may sound like, 'Oh, two horses,' but that means two lives saved," Arena said.

The book was produced to educate children about the April 8 total eclipse of the sun in Genesee County.  The chamber received orders from 28 states -- including Hawaii -- and 165 cities.  Forbes named it one of the best five books for people to buy to learn more about the eclipse.

It was written by Colleen Onuffer and illustrated by Andy Reddout.

"We talked to the agriculture community, and we talked with the scientific community to make sure the book was true to life," Cousins said. "Then we thought about how we could commemorate this book to our community, and we thought of you and your selfless devotion to these animals. If you take a look at the book, you will see each one of the animals that you take care of day in and day out are represented in that book." 

When a criminal suspect with mental health issues enters the justice system following an arrest, that defendant has a constitutional right to understand the proceedings, whether the defendant eventually ends up accepting a plea offer or facing trial.

In New York, that right is protected by statute as well in Article 730 of the Criminal Procedure Law.

Officials in Genesee County want to see the law changed because it is antiqued, and complying with it is expensive and less effective than more contemporary options for dealing with a defendant's mental health capacity.

To that end, the Genesee County Legislature is preparing to pass a resolution asking the State Legislature to amend Article 730.  The Human Services Committee on Monday recommended the resolution be presented to the full Legislature.

"We're in a new era, and things need to change," Lynda Battaglia, director of Mental Health & Community Services, told the committee. "We have more innovative services; we have diversion; we have mental health treatment courts. All of that can be utilized before a person even gets to court. We have mental health treatment courts and drug treatment courts. All of those (options) will assist with lowering the cost of restoration."

With four defendants currently in state mental health hospitals undergoing restoration services, the county is facing a potential expense for 2024 of $1.2 million after budgeting only $300,000 for such services.

County Manager Matt Landers explained that he knew the expense could be higher when he was preparing the budget. The annual expense is impossible to predict because there is no way to guess at how many people arrested will have potential competency issues. If he had included even just another $300,000 in the budget, the property tax rate for the county would have gone up.  With the conservative approach, he could avoid raising taxes, he said, and if the unanticipated expense hit, find the money elsewhere in county coffers -- for example, higher than anticipated sales tax revenue or fund reserves.

On Monday, the Human Services Committee also approved a resolution transferring $300,000 from personal services and the medical line item to contracted mental health care. The resolution still needs to be approved by the full Legislature at its next meeting.

The purpose of Article 730 is to ensure a defendant is able to understand the charges against him or her and participate in his or her own defense.

The state operations "forensic" hospitals solely for the purpose of trying to restore a defendant to competency so they can participate in the legal proceedings.

While competency restoration provides medication, the primary purpose is to help the defendant understand the proceedings in the courtroom.

It is not mental health treatment and does nothing to help alleviate or manage the defendant's mental health issues.

Judges, according to the proposed resolution, often do not understand that competency restoration is no substitute for mental health treatment. 

Restoration can take from 90 to 150 days at a cost to the county of $1,300 a day.

Some defendants in New York have been in restoration for three, six, or even 10 years, though by legal precedent, the state cannot hold a mentally incompetent person indefinitely. 

"They do have a right to restoration," Battaglia said. "They have to understand what's happening, what charges are being brought against them and to understand the trial process. That's their civil liberties." 

Landers hopes that the four defendants currently receiving restoration services will be found competent to proceed with legal proceedings well before the county's bill approaches that $1.2 million mark.

He said he met with other county administrators from throughout the state a month ago, and competency restoration costs were a common concern.

All are pushing for changes in Article 730, including ensuring judges understand the 730 process is not mental health treatment and that the professionals conducting competency exams inform judges whether there is a reasonable chance of restoration, allowing judges to explore diversion programs and mental health treatment.

The change would also require counties to invest any savings realized from reform into community-based mental health services.

"It makes too much sense and I guess we're frustrated because from a clinical and from a financial side, we don't understand why there isn't movement on this," Landers said.

“The Whirligig of Time,” the newest production from the Batavia Players at Main St. 56 Theater, melds the fantasy of time travel with the magic of William Shakespeare to captivate an audience's imagination.

Written by Rick Bingen, Whirligig (itself a reference to a line in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night), the play is the story of a woman who visits London on vacation and then returns to complete the journey he longed to take before they returned home. Her husband, a software engineer obsessed with Shakespeare, had planned a visit to a tavern known for its authentic recreation of a watering hole from the Bard's time. Alas, when they arrive on that last night, the tavern is closed.  

The husband begs his wife, Olivia (another allusion to the Twelfth Night), to stay in London a few more days and catch another flight home. After all, he argues, you never know if their plane might roll off the runway or he might die of boredom in his job.

After he passes, Olivia returns to London and that tavern. After a brief visit to contemporary times, she is magically transported back four centuries and meets Shakespeare and his friends and associates, Richard Burbage, Will Kemp, Rebecca Heminges, and John Heminges.

Photos by Howard Owens.