Oakfield

Press release:

Nominations are currently being accepted for this year's induction class of the Oakfield-Alabama Alumni Hall of Fame. It recognizes outstanding OACS alumni who have achieved distinction in their lives and chosen field after high school through significant contributions to their career, community or through personal achievements.

If you know a person who meets the following criteria, please consider nominating him/her for this prestigious honor:

• Nominees must be graduates of OACS or one of its predecessors, or have been active in school classes and activities during their senior year; (Nominees who left school while in good standing to perform military service are also eligible. Deceased alumni are not eligible for induction until the 5th anniversary of the year of their death.)
• Nominees must have graduated prior to 1999;
• Selection is based on achievement after leaving OACS, which includes a worthy record in more than one, and exemplary achievement in at least one of the following: job-related achievements; professional honors and awards, professional affiliations, or publications; civic or community involvement; personal achievements/accomplishments; positive impact on the communities in the Oakfield-Alabama school district.

Anyone may submit a nomination for any person meeting the criteria stated above. Nominations must be made during the nomination period only (March 1 - April 30) by using the Online Nomination Form or the PDF Nomination Form (see links below). Electronically submitted nominations are strongly preferred over mailed-in, hard-copy nominations.

Online Nomination Form - http://www.oacsalumni.org/content/HallOfFame/NominationProcess/OnlineForm
PDF Nomination Form - http://www.oacsalumni.org/content_files/HallOfFame/NominationProcess/form.pdf

Four-year-old Ethan Pritchett watches a marble roll through a track as part of a game at Oakfield-Alabama's annual winter carnival.

More than 1,500 people who attended the event were able to enjoy more than 40 carnival games, music, food and entertainment during the carnival Friday evening.

The carnival is hosted by Oakfield-Alabama Elementary Community School Organization and is a major fundraiser for the group.

David Schichler, 5.

Kadeen Cusmano, 10.

Ashley Ostrander, 8.

Amora Mabon, 5, watches as Deputy Snyder and Deputy McCarthy create a child identification card for her little brother.

Press release:

Since the initiation of the Boil Water Advisory (BWA) one week ago 31 private drinking water wells have been tested, with 15 confirmed to have bacteriological contamination of coliform bacteria and E. coli. Residents who have had their water tested and confirmed positive have been notified at this time.

These organisms can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants and people with compromised immune systems. Residents in this area who are experiencing these symptoms should contact their medical provider.

The Genesee County Health Department continues to assist the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) with their investigation to determine the exact origin and extent of the contamination.

Residents near Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road east of Rt 63 and Lewiston Road south of Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road are urged to continue following the instructions below until their water can be confirmed safe to drink.

Instructions: Boil (rolling boil for one minute) tap water or use bottled water for drinking and cooking. If well water quality changes as noticed by color and/or smell, immediately stop using it for all household uses other than flushing toilets.

For additional information about a Boil Water Advisory (BWA) and how to stay safe during one, visit: http://www.readygenesee.com/BoilWaterAdvisory.pdf.

For additional information on coliform bacteria please visit:

http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/water/drinking/docs/coliform_bacteria.pdf

A motor-vehicle accident, with one person complaining of chest pain, is reported at 7360 Lewiston Road, just north of Fisher Road. Oakfield fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 5:16 p.m.: The vehicle is in a field.

Tyquawn D. Bethel, 23, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with obstructing governmental administration, 2nd, resisting arrest, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal trespass, 2nd, and petit larceny. Officers were dispatched to an address on Prune Street for a report of an argument at 10:06 p.m. Tuesday. Bethal allegedly entered the residence uninvited and refused to leave. Bethal allegedly argued with a person at the residence. He allegedly grabbed money from the purse of the resident and then attempted to leave with the money. When patrols arrived, Bethal was allegedly combative with officers and refused to comply with verbal commands. Bethal allegedly initiated a fight with the officers. Children were allegedly present during the scuffle. He was subdued and taken into custody. Bethal was jailed on $2,500 bail. The investigation was handled by Officer Kevin DeFelice and Sgt. Dan Coffey.

Robert L. Peachey Jr., 30, of Gibson Street, Oakfield, is charged with petit larceny. Peachey is accused of stealing a bottle of Jack Daniel's Honey from YNGodess on Feb. 28. (Previously)

Shaumyk Antonio Santiago, 21, of St. Paul Street, Rochester, is charged with burglary. Santiago is accused of forcing entry into a residence on Tinkham Drive, Darien, on or about Dec. 27, and stealing handguns, cash, jewelry and other property. Santiago was arraigned, released on his own recognizance and turned over to another police agency on unrelated criminal charges. A second arrest in the case is pending. The investigation was conducted by Investigator William Ferrando and Sgt. Ron Meides.

Christopher M. Colantonio, 34, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with failure to appear. Colantonio was arrested on a bench warrant. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.

Elizabeth A. Denise, 33, of Hutchins Street, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant. Denise turned herself in. She was released on $100 bail.

Kevin R. Baumgarte, 39, of Birchwood, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, passing a red light, leaving scene of a property damage accident and failure to keep right. Baumgarte was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident on South Main Street at 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Batavia patrols subsequently located Baumgarte. The accident was investigated by Officer Eric Foels.

Micahel Samuel Yamonaco, 41, of Trumbull Street, Mount Morris, Kathleen Melissa Pritchard, 35, of Spartan Drive, Farmington, Aaron Michael Higgins, 34, of Genesee Street, Piffard, and Miranda Ariene Ralston, 27, of Genesee Street, Piffard, are all charged with grand larceny, 4th. The four suspects are accused of stealing a TV from the Batavia Walmart. They were arrested by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and found with the allegedly stolen TV. 

Press release:

Several of the initial water samples collected this week from private drinking water wells located near Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road -- east of Route 63, and Lewiston Road south of Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road -- have confirmed bacteriological contamination of coliform bacteria and E. coli. Residents who had their water tested and confirmed positive have been notified at this time. These organisms can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants and people with compromised immune systems. Residents in this area who are experiencing these symptoms should contact their medical provider.

Although the contamination has been confirmed, the exact origin and extent cannot be determined without further analysis, the Genesee County Health Department will assist the Department of Environmental Conservation in this process in the near future.

Impacted residents are urged to continue to follow the instructions below until their water can be confirmed safe to drink. With the extent of the contamination unknown at this time, re-occurrence of contamination is possible.

If you are living in the identified area and would like your well water tested, please contact the Genesee County Health Department at (585) 344-2580, ext. 5525. There is no charge for this testing.

A single positive well test Friday set off an alert for residents in the area of Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road and Lewiston Road to boil their drinking and cooking water, officials confirmed this afternoon.

The test found bacteria in the well water of a single residence on Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road, said George Squires, manager of the Genesee County Soil and Water Conservation District.

"It may be attributed to some manure spreading that may have gone on in the area," Squires said. "I was out of town all last week and just found out Friday myself. I don't have a lot of details because I've not been out there myself yet. I spoke briefly with a farmer and his consultant this morning and the health department this afternoon. I don't have a lot of details and I don't feel comfortable about making any conclusions yet."

County Health Director Paul Pettit said the affected area is no more than 25 parcels.

"We haven't pinpointed the exact source," Pettit said. "We wanted to alert the residents of those houses right around that area that there may be an issue with wells in the area."

There was a communication miscue on Friday, Pettit said. The health department alerted the Emergency Dispatch Center and the Emergency Services Office with the expectation that the alert they drafted would be sent only to the affected 25 or so residents. There was no intention to send out a media release, since it was such a small section of the county. Instead, the alert was sent out countywide and regional TV stations mistakenly reported that there was a boil water advisory for all of Genesee County.

The confusion led today to the City of Batavia putting out its own announcement informing residents that there is no boil water advisory for the city.

The communication Friday is "something we need to review and look at," Pettit said.

Both Squires and Pettit discussed the difficulty farmers face this time of year. They're eager to prepare crop lands for tillage and planting, which requires properly timed manure spreading, but there are also regulations for larger farmers that govern when they can do it.

"Larger farms are supposed to monitor weather and predict significant melting events," Squires said. "They're not supposed to spread in advance of an event like that. This time of a year, predicting warm temperatures in advance gets to be a little bit of a challenge."

It's a violation of a farm's permit, Squires said, to contaminate ground or surface water.

There may have been one or two other spills in county recently, Squires said, but there's been complaints about wells elsewhere in the county (Squires said he didn't have details yet; the spills could have been in areas that are already on public water, therefore well water wouldn't be contaminated).

"I need to get ahold of the DEC and find out what's going on," Squires said.

A week ago, a reader in Oakfield contacted The Batavian to complain about a possible manure spill. We requested info from the DEC but have not received any further information. Neither Squires nor Pettit were aware of any reported spills in the area prior to the well complaint received on Friday.The single well on Batavia-Oakfield Townline Road is the only confirmed instance of well contamination at this time.

For more on what to do when a boil water advisory is issued for your area, click here.

UPDATE: Here's a map of the affected area, provided by the County Health Department.

A person reportedly suffered a foot injury after her foot was run over by a car at the 7-Eleven in Oakfield.

Oakfiled fire and Mercy EMS responding.

UPDATE 10:51 a.m.: Oakfield chief on scene. Mercy EMS is cancelled.

A garage fire was quickly knocked down within the last half hour at 2999 Batavia Oakfield Town Line Road. Oakfield fire responded, along with mutual aid from Town of Batavia and East Pembroke, and Alabama had a crew stand by in Oakfield's quarters. A portion of the roadway for eastbound traffic was also closed.

UPDATE 3:30 p.m.: All responders are back in service.

At about 10 a.m., the snow was coming down pretty heavy in the Village of Oakfield.

Out on a trail in Oakfield, a first-time snowmobiler with a camera decided to stop, letting his guide continue ahead for a bit, and looked back at the path just taken and see if the area might be photogenic.

It wasn't.

When the rookie turned back to put his hands on the handlebars, his palm accidentally hit the engine's kill switch.

He had no idea how to restart this machine.

No worries really. The rider knew his guide, Jim Elmore, would turn around before long and see the rookie was no longer trailing. Elmore is past-president of Genesee County Sno-Packers Snowmobile Club and the current president of NYSSA (New York State Snowmobilers Association).

Perhaps the guide had a bit of fear that the rookie had done something horrid with Jane Chaddock's sled, like zoom it off the trail into a ditch, and he would return.

About this time, a young rider on a neon green and black snowmobile happened along the trail and offered assistance.

And that's sort of how it goes in the snowmobile community in Genesee County -- a cooperative spirit, riders helping riders.

It takes a dedicated group of volunteers to maintain the 175 miles of snowmobile trails in the county, and Sno-Packers (along with Sleds of Stafford) are the organizations that ensure the work gets done.

If not, as volunteer groomer Greg Rich said, "It would be pretty rough out here. There would probably be no snowmobilers."

The Sno-Packers own three machines for grooming the trails. Each costs more than $200,000, and the grooming drags cost another $12,000 each, plus the club spends from $25,000 to $30,000 a year on operations and maintenance.

Ten to 12 volunteers operate the groomers. A couple, such as Rich, spend more than 10 hours a day out on trails, keeping the snow smooth and packed so riding is not only possible, but safer.

The club also maintains trail signs that provide directions and GPS coordinates to riders so they don't get lost and have some idea of where they are in an emergency.

Snowmobile clubs also provide a safety and riding classes, not to mention social events.

It's a monumental effort and involves an interesting bit of cooperation between private non-profit groups and state agencies.

In fact, Elmore noted that while citizens often complain about state government, snowmobile groups, and certainly Sno-Packers often find government agencies to be cooperative allies.

As an example, Emore pointed to a trail that connects Alexander and Bethany. It's an old railroad bed owned by the Department of Environmental Conservation. After years of wondering why it wasn't a snowmobile trail, the Sno-Packers reached out to the DEC and inquired about turning it into a trail. The DEC's response? "We thought you'd never ask."

Much of the funding for trail maintenance comes from license fees for snowmobiles collected by the state (unlicensed snowmobiles, and there are some, then, are the bane of good trail maintenance). 

The state pays Genesee Sno-Packers to maintain 150 miles of trail. The club pays for the extra 25 miles out of its own dues.

A ride on one of these trails reveals a side of Genesee County that you're never going to see from a state highway or county road. The vistas and views are completely different and reveal even greater variety of our area's beauty.

In fact, if your concept of snowmobiles is that of a bunch of speed demons racing around the countryside, that's hardly the truth at all. Snowmobilers are photography buffs (Chaddock, for example, always packs a camera and is known among club members for her eye-catching photography), birders and nature lovers.

On the trail, you come across a variety of wildlife and that's part of the fun of the ride.

Acting on a tip from law enforcement in Florida that a package of methamphetamine was being shipped to an address in Oakfield, members of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force arrested a Le Roy man allegedly found in possession of the package.

Mark J. Puma, 42, of West Main Street, Le Roy, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 4th, criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and possession of controlled substances by ultimate user's original container.

The tip came from the Winterhaven Police Department. The package was reportedly delivered to an address on Farnsworth Avenue.

After confirming the package delivery, members of the task force reportedly observed Puma leaving the residence.

A traffic stop for an alleged traffic violation was initiated on Maltby Road, Oakfield, by a uniformed deputy and a state trooper.

During an interview with Puma, it was determined that Puma was allegedly in possession of Adderall.

A K-9 search of Puma's 2000 Toyota 4-Runner led to a positive alert by the dog on suspected narcotics in the vehicle.

The suspect package, with a return address in Lakeland, Fla., was located in the vehicle and a quanity of meth was allegedly found in the package.

Puma was arraigned and released under supervision of Genesee Justice.

Assisting in the investigation were the District Attorney's Office, uniformed deputies, state troopers, Medina PD and Medina PD's K-9, "Kye."

Nina M.E. Kelso, 29, of Hutchins Street, Batavia, is charged with torturing or injuring an animal/failure to provide sustenance and owning/haboring an unlicensed dog. Batavia PD responded to Kelso's residence at 6:08 p.m., Feb. 4, to investigate a report of a maltreated/malnourished dog. Officers allegedly found a pit bull identified as Kelso's dog that was malnourished and weak. The dog was reportedly unable to stand or move on its own. The dog was also unlicensed. The dog was taken to Batavia State Street Animal Hospital and continues to receive treatment and care.

Johnnie M. Waston, 30, unknown address, Rochester, is charged with criminal impersonation, 2nd, and criminal trespass, 2nd. Waston allegedly entered the apartment on State Street of somebody he did not know at 1:54 p.m., Sunday, and remained in the residence unlawfully. Waston allegedly provided a fake name to police and was later recognized and identified by jail personnel. Waston was found to have an active bench warrant for his arrest out of the city court in Rochester.

Scott R. Merrill, 45, of Darien Center, is charged with DWI. A state trooper reportedly observed a vehicle stop at the Colby Road railroad crossing, which at the time had flashing lights and the gate arms down, indicating an approaching train. The vehicle allegedly proceeded around the gates and narrowly avoided being hit by an Amtrak train. The vehicle was stopped and Merrill was taken into custody following further investigation.

Rodney Lowell McKenzie, 49, of Weaver Street, Buffalo, is charged with inhalation of toxic vapors. McKenzie was reported found at 11:51 a.m., Feb. 5, sitting in his vehicle allegedly huffing keyboard cleaner. He was also charged with petit larceny for allegedly shoplifting from Walmart.

Danny Jay Torok Jr., 26, of Dodgeson Road, Alexander, is charged with assault, 2nd. Torok allegedly started a fight with another inmate while incarcerated at the Genesee County Jail.

Mark Andrew Kempie Jr., 45, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Kempie allegedly stole merchandise valued at $13.67 from Kmart.

Gary Edwin Gerevics, 55, of Indian Falls Road, Corfu, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 3rd, and criminal contempt, 2nd. Gerevics was allegedly found in possession of firearms in violation of a court order of protection. He was jailed on $3,000 bail.

Jason A. Klinkbeil, 25, of 50 South St., Le Roy, was arrested on a bench warrant. Klinkbeil turned himself in on a warrant for alleged failure to comply with drug court. He was jailed on $100,000 bail.

Nathan Paul Crawford,18, of Hutchins Street, Batavia, is charged with public lewdness. Crawford allegedly exposed his genitals to another person while on East Main Street, Batavia, at 5:46 p.m., Feb. 5.

Suzanne M. Corona, 44, of Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Corona is accused of stealing from a location Veterans Memorial Drive, Batavia, at 8:38 p.m., Saturday. She was arrested by State Police. No further details released.

Jacob J. Lentz, 24, of Aurora, Iowa, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Lentz was stopped at 10:50 p.m., Saturday, on Albion Road in Oakfield by State Police.

Deborah L. Smith, 55, of Spencerport, is charged with DWI, refusal to take breath test and drinking alcohol in a motor vehicle while on highway. Smith was stopped by State Police at 11:25 p.m., Friday, on Route 63, Town of Batavia.

Logan R. Evans, 22, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, unlawful possession of marijuana and moved from lane unsafely. Evans was arrested following an investigation by officers Stephen Cronmiller and Matthew Lutey into an accident at 1:06 a.m. Saturday in the area of 23 Jackson St., Batavia.

Jacob S. Martino, 29, of Drake Street, Oakfield, was arrested on a warrant for alleged parking on city streets between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Martino turned himself in on the warrant. He posted bail and was released.

Amanda Marie Bowles, 28, of Williams Street, Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant. Bowles was arrested by Batavia PD and turned over to the Sheriff's Office. Bowles was jailed on $100,000 bail.

Oakfield-Alabama schools are closed this morning, due to weather.

Pavilion school is closed, due to plumbing issues.

Pavilion students scheduled to take a regents exam at Pavilion High School are to report to the elementary building at their scheduled test time.

The National Weather Service has a wind chill advisory in effect until 10 a.m. with wind chills expected to be 15 to 25 degrees below zero.

A car accident with injuries is reported in the area of 6673 Albion Road in Oakfield. A patient is said to be feeling dizzy and light-headed. Mercy medics are responding.