Le Roy

A tree and wires are down in the roadway at Warsaw and Cole roads in Le Roy. Also, wires are arcing and sparking across the street from 6810 East Bethany - Le Roy Road in Le Roy.

Le Roy Fire Department is responding.

UPDATE 2:32 p.m.: A first responder at 6810 East Bethany - Le Roy Road reports the wires are no longer arcing and sparking. National Grid is contacted. The Le Roy fire assignment for this location is put back in service.

Meanwhile, at Warsaw (Route 19) and Cole roads, National Grid is called because a power line to a residence is across the roadway. Cable and phone lines are down as well and the service providers are contacted for repair. Southbound traffic is being shut down at Warsaw and Perry roads. Westbound traffic on Cole Road is shut down at Route 19.

Press release:

Rochester Regional Health is continuing to reopen clinics and resume outpatient services as part of a phased, coordinated plan that aligns with state and county health guidance.

On Monday, June 22, Rochester Regional Health will resume lab services at our Le Roy Medical Campus, located at 3 Tountas Ave., on a limited basis as follows:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday  –  7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Phone is (585) 768-6530.

The Le Roy Campus is also accepting Primary Care and Orthopedic patients.

Please know, as our facilities reopen, the health and safety of our patients and community are our top priorities.

We have diligently put new safety measures and processes in place to protect patients.

While care may look different, please rest assured that we are delivering the same high-quality care we always have.

To learn more about our Le Roy Medical Campus or the ways we are safely transforming healthcare delivery, please visit rochesterregional.org.

Le Roy's seniors were honored with a drive-thru event at the high school yesterday where they were applauded and received a cap and gown, yearbook, locker items, T-shirts, other goodies, and a BBQ lunch.

Video by Principal Tim McArdle.

Submitted photo and press release:

Canisius College President John J. Hurley appointed Le Roy resident Danielle D. Ianni, Ph.D., vice president for enrollment management, effective May 15. Ianni reports directly to President Hurley and is a member of the college’s senior leadership team.

As vice president for enrollment management, Ianni leads undergraduate and graduate student recruitment, marketing and student financial aid. She is responsible for employing best practices so as to enroll diverse classes of first-year, transfer and graduate students, and enhancing student retention while maintaining the academic profile of the college.

Ianni comes to Canisius from the State University of New York at Buffalo where she served as director of enrollment operations since 2016. In this role, Ianni was responsible for enrollment operations at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She assisted with short- and long-term strategic planning and initiatives to meet enrollment goals, and developed and oversaw enrollment forecasting, predictive modeling and analysis of applicant and student data.

Ianni earned her undergraduate degree in accounting from Hartwick College in Oneonta. She holds master and doctoral degrees in higher education administration, both from the University of Rochester’s Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education, where Ianni also worked as assistant director of admissions and head coach for the men’s and women’s swim team.

Ianni’s academic research has focused on the subjects of institutional financial aid, bridging the gap between traditional and nontraditional students, the hidden cost of school security and student perceptions of Facebook. She is an active member of several professional organizations including the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, the American Educational Research Association and the Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education.

One of 27 Jesuit universities in the nation, Canisius is the premier private university in Western New York. Canisius celebrates its sesquicentennial anniversary during the 2019-20 academic year, marking 150 years of Jesuit education and leadership in the city of Buffalo and Western New York. Visit www.canisius.edu/150 for more information about Canisius’ milestones and celebratory events.

Yesterday evening, we visited Le Roy to check in on three restaurants that are now serving dine-in customers as part of the Phase Three reopening.

CORRECTION: I forgot to include the lower thirds in the video identifying the speakers. They are in order of appearance, Monique Mottler, a server and front-of-house supervisor at Farmer's Creekside Inn; Sean Valdes, co-owner, D&R Depot; Racheal Olear, general operations supervisor, Smokin' Eagle BBQ & Brew. My apologies to all.

Mary Powell, circa 1870s, taken at A.K. Drury Studio, Le Roy, NY.

Reader Shelley Cardiel contacted us this afternoon and sent along this photo, saying:

"I’ve 'rescued' an old photograph of Mary POWELL, which was taken at the A. K. Drury Studio in LeRoy, NY.  The photograph appears to have been taken in the 1870’s with Mary appearing to be in her teens at the time it was taken.

"I’m hoping to locate someone from Mary’s family so that this photograph can be returned to the care of family. If you are a member of this family, or you know someone who might be, please contact me."

Email:   cardiels@comcast.net

Le Roy graduate Kathleen Dessert received a John Mikalski Scholarship from the Genesee Wyoming Music Educators Association in 2018. She is currently studying Music Education at SUNY Fredonia. She is a vocal major, a soprano who also plays piano, flute, guitar and ukulele.

While at Le Roy, her favorite music experience was performing as Ariel in "The Little Mermaid." So far while at Fredonia her favorite musical experience was performing Verdi's "Requiem" under the direction of David Rudge, Ph.D.

Dessert is looking forward to singing with the Fredonia Choirs at a celebration for Stacey Gibbs' 100th composition in Washington, D.C., in the spring of 2021.

Her favorite performance venue is when she performed with the 2017 NYSSMA Conference All State Treble Choir in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. One of her favorite pieces they performed that night was Holst's "Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda."

Her main role models have always been her teachers. The most influential being Patricia Corron, Ph.D, and Jacqueline McLean.

She would love to teach elementary general music while also keeping herself involved in choirs and musical theater.

She recently put together a Virtual Ensemble for the Fredonia chapter of the National Association for Music Education! It was a lot of fun, and she is hoping to do more in the future that will involve chapters from all around the state.

Rose (Lattuca) Sherman, a resident of Le Roy Village Green, turned 104 on Saturday and her birthday was celebrated by staff and with family sending her well-wishes through a window.

Lattuca grew up in Scottsville and lived most of her in Le Roy where she was popular as a babysitter and caretaker for many years. She worked for 20 years for the Genesee Country Museum. She was married to the late Jon C. Sherman Sr. Her four children: John (Pam) Sherman, Tom Sherman, Sandy (Tim) McCulley, Charles (Mindy) Sherman. He has 14 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great grandchildren.

She has never had a driver's license.

Photos and information submitted by Janice Sherman.

Story by Pete DeLea, of the Daily News-Record of Harrisonburg, Va. Republished with permission.

A Virginia man shot and killed by New York police last week became radicalized over the years, had a deep hatred for government and police, and was likely planning a large-scale attack, according to several law enforcement sources.

Over the course of three days last week, police say, FBI agents found a stockpile of firearms and pipe bombs in Joshua Blessed’s car and at his home in Rockingham County.

Sources say police and federal agents were aware of the 58-year-old, also known as Sergei Jourev. The FBI and Virginia State Police sent out bulletins to local law enforcement about Blessed’s extreme views and potential danger to police.

Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson said deputies had minimal dealings with Blessed in the past, but nothing that was criminal. He said he’s thankful no one was injured in New York or locally.

“We found out a whole lot more about him. You’re talking about a true extremist,” Hutcheson said. “He was a dangerous individual. You’re talking about someone that was serious about committing violence … some kind of terrorism.”

Calls to the FBI were not returned.

The investigation into Blessed began shortly after 8:30 p.m. on May 27, when a Le Roy police officer attempted a traffic stop on Blessed’s tractor-trailer on Route 5 in the Village of Le Roy.

Blessed took off while an officer was on the truck’s side rails. A pursuit ensued and it eventually included multiple police agencies.

He continued into Livingston County. Blessed opened fire, shooting four police vehicles. Police say one vehicle alone received 10 shots.

Police returned fire, striking him multiple times. Blessed died at the scene.

Officers say Blessed worked for Harrisonburg-based trucking company Yurman Express and was headed to New York to pick up dairy products.

During a press conference on May 28, Livingston County Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty said no police officers or civilians were injured.

“I would call it a miracle. I have no clue how nobody was hurt. He fired a lot of shots, and we fired a lot of shots,” he said, adding that one bullet entered a police car and struck the driver’s side headrest. “If he wasn’t ducking, it would have been right to his head.”

Following the shootout, Dougherty said, investigators began to focus on figuring out why Blessed did what he did.

Joined by the FBI, multiple law enforcement agencies turned their attention to Blessed's social media posts, which they say included troubling statements regarding his religious and anti-police views.

A YouTube video he posted showed snipers on roofs during a Second Amendment rally in Richmond on Jan. 20.

Under the video, Blessed posts: “The Civil War is coming to America and then Russian invasion on the east and Chinese on the west.”

The FBI then headed to the Shenandoah Valley, where they searched multiple properties.

They searched his former Augusta County home on Fadley Road in Weyers Cave, but nothing was found. Although he owns the property, police say, he didn’t live there.

Police say he rented a home in Keezletown.

During a search at that home, law enforcement said, they found more than a dozen explosive devices capable of being used in a large-scale attack.

The Virginia State Police blew up the devices at a remote farm in the county.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Le Roy Chief Chris Hayward told The Batavian the Le Roy patrol vehicle rammed and shot in the incident sustained $15,000 in damage.

Previously:

• Investigators using social media to work up profile of truck driver killed after police pursuit
• Le Roy PD releases photos of patrol vehicle shot and rammed by truck driver Wednesday night
• FBI raids home in Virginia of truck driver killed after chase through Genesee and Livingston counties
• After high-speed chase that ended with shoot out, Le Roy chief kept thinking of the 'what ifs'

While Le Roy fire and Bergen fire were on the Thruway working an accident that required a Mercy Flight transport near the Route 237 overpass, a second accident was reported in the westbound lane.

The first accident involved a tractor-trailer in the eastbound lane.

It appears there are minor injuries in the second accident.

Top two photos by Alecia Kaus/Video News Service. Bottom photo submitted by a reader. Additional photos added below by Alecia Kaus.

A three-vehicle accident is reported, with unknown injuries, on the eastbound Thruway at mile marker 380. Le Roy fire and ambulance are responding.

UPDATE 2:29 p.m.: Le Roy requests mutual aid from Mercy medics and they are responding.

UPDATE 2:45 p.m.: One of the vehicles involved is a semi. A portion of the roadway is being shut down completely in order to clear away debris from the accident.

A caller in Le Roy reports a deer ran into her basement and now appears to be injured. No address given. The deer is still in the basement. Le Roy police are responding.

Le Roy PD released these photos of one of the patrol vehicles involved in Wednesday night's chase of Joshua Blessed, the Virginia truck driver who tried to flee law enforcement following a traffic stop for speeding in the village.

Blessed rammed this patrol vehicle, along with other law enforcement vehicles, and fired several shots both during the pursuit and after coming to a stop near Geneseo. Police officers returned fire and Blessed died as an apparent result of bullet wounds.

Previously:

• Investigators using social media to work up profile of truck driver killed after police pursuit
• After high-speed chase that ended with shoot out, Le Roy chief kept thinking of the 'what ifs'
• FBI raids home in Virginia of truck driver killed after chase through Genesee and Livingston counties

The home of Joshua Blessed, the truck driver who fled from Le Roy Police on Wednesday and eventually died in a shootout near Geneseo, was raided by the FBI according to a Harrisonburg, Va., TV station news report.

Blessed owned a home in the community of Weyers Cave, near Harrisonburg.

A source with the FBI's field office in Richmond, Va., told WHSV that Blessed was the subject of a joint investigation by the FBI and Virginia State Police following the incident in New York. No information was released about what investigators were looking for in Blessed's home or what may have been found.

Blessed, who claimed to speak directly with God, posted anti-police videos on his YouTube channel and on his website claimed to be called by God to start a second civil war.

The News-Leader, a newspaper in Waynesboro, Va., reports that Blessed was accused in 2015 of assaulting a teen relative. He was convicted of assault. Following an appeal, he was ordered to undergo anger management treatment and perform 100 hours of community service. The case was dismissed in 2018.

He has two adult children. In 2005, he and his family moved from California to Virginia.

Previously:

• Investigators using social media to work up profile of truck driver killed after police pursuit
• After high-speed chase that ended with shoot out, Le Roy chief kept thinking of the 'what ifs'

A bear has been spotted in the area of 7165 W. Main Road in Le Roy. The Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center has received a couple of calls on this and Le Roy police were informed about it.

2020 Le Roy Jr.-Sr. High School Fine Arts Festival, produced by Principal Tim McArdle.